Unexpected Expectations
by Kaijo
Summary: A single moment in time can change things forever. When Nanoha visits Yuuno at his latest place of work, they both encounter something neither one was prepared for, and that will have lasting repercussions. WARNING: Lime-scented chapters, adult concepts.
1. One Moment in Time

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 1: One Moment in Time**

Xx~~*~~xX

"Hey, how are things going down here?" Nanoha asked with a smile, as her and Vivio entered the room.

Yuuno looked up from his desk, an array of screens, books, and items around him and cluttering up lots of tables.

"Tiring," he replied, letting out a long breath and leaning back in his chair. "The TSAB has misplaced a lot of records, and many more are incomplete, regarding all these lost logia they've accumulated throughout the years."

Nanoha glanced around the medium-sized room, remembering that one of the vaults was nearby. "So they want you to figure all these out? Isn't that dangerous? I had to check Raging Heart in at the security desk upstairs, in order to come down here."

"Not really, as these have all been sealed, so there should be no danger of them activating," he told her. He picked up a small cube that he was currently working on, and tossed it back and forth between his hands to demonstrate.

Vivio walked into the room curiously, looking at all the interesting items arrayed in the room. "Wow, these are cool!"

"Well, we knew you were working hard, so we thought we'd bring you lunch!" she said with a smile, producing a basket.

Yuuno pulled up a holographic window with the time, blinking in surprise. "Is it lunchtime already?"

"No wonder you seem to be getting thinner lately," Nanoha realized, laying out a blanket on the ground, then setting out cups to fill with tea from a thermos. "You're forgetting to eat."

He sheepishly put a hand behind his head. "Well, I get working on something, and I really get into it."

She smiled, then looked behind him. "Vivio, honey, you can look, but don't touch."

"It's okay," Yuuno replied, accepted a bowl of rice from Nanoha. "Like I said, they've all had their magic sealed, so they're just paperweights at the moment."

"Well, I don't want her breaking anything, either," she replied, setting out some meat and fish.

"So how are things at the house with Fate?" he asked after swallowing some rice.

Nanoha sighed as she picked up some beef. "Not too bad. Sometimes she is away for days at a time due to assignments, but she's able to spend enough time with us. Vivio does miss her Fate-mama from time to time."

"I'll come by and visit more once this assignment is done," Yuuno told her, selecting some of the fish. "She's been having fun learning in the Library, and I enjoy teaching her."

"I think she'd like that," Nanoha said after starting on her own rice bowl, then louder, "Vivio, did you want some food?"

"No thank you, I'm not hungry right now!" the girl called back, still fascinated by the array of objects.

"I thought she might have had too big of a breakfast this morning," Nanoha realized with despair. "Sometimes I wonder how mother managed to raise me so well."

He smiled at her. "You're doing a great job, I think. How are things in her school?"

She ate some of the beef, taking a moment to drink her tea to wash it down. "Very good actually. She's made some friends, and seems to enjoy the schoolwork. I... Vivio!"

Yuuno blinked at her as she put her food down and stood up suddenly, running past him. He twisted around, also standing, noticing what she had. Vivio had picked one of the objects up, and it was starting to glow in her hands. He took off after Nanoha, reaching just after she swiped it out of her daughter's hand.

"What's it doing!?" Nanoha cried, as the small diamond shaped crystal, suspended within concentric bands, continued glowing brighter. "I can't seal it without Raging Heart!"

"I'm not sure, this was one of the ones I hadn't gotten to yet," he replied. "Maybe if we combine our magic we can seal it!"

She nodded, and he placed his hands over hers, as she cupped the object between them. They closed their eyes and began to channel their magic, but Yuuno suddenly felt a strong sense of vertigo, as if he was being pulled down a drain. He lost all sense of time and space for several long moments, only to promptly get it back as he landed into something soft.

It wasn't just into, as he found himself nearly half-buried by cushy, squishy things. It was almost comfortable and he might have been tempted to stay like that, but he need to figure out what was going on.

He emerged from the mass, finding it to be a various bunch of pillows and cushions. As he stood up and looked around, he noted the vague reddish tint around him. The walls of the room appeared to be somewhat transparent, but outside was a shimmery ocean of various colors, similar to the void spots that erupted back on Precia's old Garden of Time, so many years ago. It was like this room was floating in this void.

He heard a feminine moan behind him, and turned around to see Nanoha standing up from the same mass of pillows. His jaw dropped open, and he promptly slapped both hands over his mouth and nose and turned away, looking down to confirm he was the same way.

"N-Nanoha!" he exclaimed. "A-Are you okay?"

"Yuuno-kun?" her light voice asked in bewilderment, then presumably she noted his state, and promptly hers as well. "Eep! Why are we naked?!" There was some rustling of cloth. "O-okay, I found some blankets and I'm covered, you can turn around and come get one for yourself."

He slowly turned around, finding that she had wrapped herself in a reddish blanket and was facing him, affording him some modesty to do the same. His head was starting to feel a bit cloudly, he noted, as he found a thick white blanket to cover himself with.

"What is this place, Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha asked, looking around. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "That lost logia was one I hadn't gotten around to analyzing yet. Let me see if I can teleport us, though."

She turned back to him, blushing faintly at their situation, but stepping close to him. After several moments of trying, thought, he gestured helplessly.

"It's like I can't gather any magic at all," he told her, rubbing his temples. "I suppose it's partially a good thing, as I'm not too sure about where we are."

"Well, the crystal in that device was glowing a bit red at the end," Nanoha reasoned. "Could we have been teleported inside some dimensional pocket and... Yuuno-kun? Are you alright?"

He heard her gasp as he felt himself temporarily lose balance, his head becoming foggier and foggier, until he could barely think, and then he experienced another wave of vertigo.

x~~*~~x

_It wasn't his fault..._

Nanoha stepped forward to steady Yuuno, wondering what was wrong with him. There seemed to be something about his head, given the way he was holding it. "Yuuno-kun? What's wrong? Tell me!"

He seemed to recover, but as his blanket had fluttered to the ground, she was intimately aware of his body and position. Still she attempted to focus on what was going on with him. And then he reached out and grabbed her upper arms, gazing at her in a way he hadn't before; his eyes were almost unfocused.

"Yuuno-kun?" she questioned. "What are you-Yuuno!"

_Something was wrong..._

Shocked, she could only stand there as his lips were forced on hers, but she eventually managed to separate herself.

"Yuuno-kun, what are you doing?" she asked, hesitant, but there was a strange look in his eyes, as if he wasn't entirely there. "This isn't the best time for this. We need to figure out how to get out of here. Eep!"

_I was still scared..._

"Yuuno-kun, please stop!" she pleaded. "This isn't like you!"

Her cries were ignored as he forced her down.

_This wasn't like him at all..._

"Yuuno, PLEASE STOP!" she cried, feeling white, hot tears forming in her eyes. "PLEASE!"

Something must have reached him, because he did slowly stop and then sit up on her stomach, and she was struck by how he was grabbing his head, his eyes slammed shut. He let out a loud scream as if in pain, his head shaking back and forth, and then he fell backwards off her, rolling off the pile of pillows and onto the glassy ground.

"Yuuno!" she called, standing up slowly. "What's wrong?"

She carefully moved towards his body, curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth as he screamed and cried. [He's in pain! But why? Is something forcing him to do this? Is it bringing him pain to fight against it?] She touched his hot shoulder and felt his body shiver.

"Yuuno-kun," she called softly, her heart aching to see him suffer so badly like this; she found herself trembling as much as he was.

"Nnnnoooo..." he groaned between seethes of pain. "Nnnoooot llllike tthhhhisssss...."

_But he was in pain; I had to help him!_

[He doesn't want to?] she realized, wondering if her earlier thoughts were correct after all. She bit her lip. [I can't let him suffer like this, though... if... if the only way to help relieve it is...] She felt the tears return to her eyes, as she fearfully stroked his shoulder, her other going to his cheek.

"Hush, Yuuno-kun, it's alright," she soothed, but her voice was trembling. Would she have to... do that? She hadn't really considered it for most of her life, and not really with Yuuno. At most, her only thoughts were of a possible kiss. [Could I?]

His pain seemed to start to go away, but any intelligence was gone again, as he uncurled and focused on her again. And he started to stand up once more...

_There was no other way!_

He was on her again, and this time she didn't fight or plead; doing so would probably just trigger him fighting it again, and thus going into those painful spasms. She didn't want him to suffer, even if she had to.

_But it hurt so much, inside as well as out..._

She muffled her cry as much as she could, her back arching as her head tilted back, hot tears leaking from her eyes. She had heard that it was going to hurt, but had no idea how much; and he wasn't as gentle as he probably could have been.

She lost track of time, but then waves crashed over her body; when the earthquake stilled, her death grip relaxed. Blood pounded in her ears, and her body began trembling again, as she slowly registered what had just happened. [What did I do? What did we do? I... allowed this to happen, but...]

_And then it was over..._

He lifted his head slowly, and she swallowed nervously as he looked at her. [His eyes... is he back to normal?] "Yuuno-kun?"

His eyes were definitely more focused now, as he looked up and down her body. "Oh god... Nanoha... what have I done?"

She felt him began to tremble now, and it gave her an odd sense of comfort. "It's-"

Before she could answer, there was a flash of light, and she found them back in the room they had started from. He quickly got up from her, backing away in fear.

"I'm so sorry, Nanoha!" he blurted out, and she was surprised by the terror in his voice. "I didn't mean to... I didn't want to..." He began to grab his clothes, quickly slipping into them.

What could she say? "Yuuno-kun, it's alright, it's not your fault." She slowly got up, finding her own clothes in a pile nearby.

But he didn't seem to hear her, as he frantically pulled his pants and shirt on. "I'll find some way to make it up to you, I promise. Oh god, what have I done?"

Now she was starting to feel annoyed; after what she had just gone through for him, this was his reaction? "Yuuno-kun, stop it!"

He gave her a single pained look, whispered another apology, then dashed out of the room.

She sighed as she finished getting dressed, as Vivio entered the room.

"Nanoha-mama!" she cried, latching onto her mother. "You disappeared for several minutes and I thought you were gone. I looked outside for a little while, and then Mr. Yuuno ran out. What happened, mama?"

Hundreds of feelings, thoughts and emotions went through her as she hugged her daughter, but one hand went to her tummy. She couldn't find words to answer her adopted daughter, as she felt the same way.

_What had just happened?_


	2. Fallout

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 2: Fallout**

Xx~~*~~xX

Nanoha tried to avoid thinking about it as she took Vivio home. She couldn't tell her daughter about what had really happened, just that her and Yuuno had been trapped inside the object for awhile; to her relief, Vivio was appropriately apologetic about what she had done, and thus didn't question further. Nanoha couldn't quite face it herself just yet, and thus definitely couldn't tell anyone else.

She threw herself into her work, somewhat glad that Fate was out on assignment for the past few days, so she didn't have someone around who could read her and confront her.

"Wow, it all smells good!" Vivio noted sleepily as she came downstairs in the morning.

Nanoha smiled as she turned away from the simmering dishes. "Fate-mama is still away on assignment for a few days, so because it's just us, I thought I'd make all your favorite dishes for breakfast this morning!"

The little girl jumped and glee and then hugged her mother's leg. "Yay! Thanks, mama!"

Nanoha patted her daughter's head. "Go get cleaned up and dressed, and I'll have everything done and ready when you come back down."

"Okay!" came the thrilled reply, as the Takamachi daughter disappeared rapidly.

The young mother thought for a moment as she checked the cook pots, wondering what else she could do, then pulled up a video screen and placed a call.

A familiar face appeared on the screen. "Aina's housekeeping services, oh, Hello Miss Nanoha! What can I do for you?"

"Hello!" Nanoha replied with a cheerful face. "I just wanted to let you know that I won't be needing your services for a couple of weeks."

The other woman looked a bit confused and hesitant. "Is something wrong? Did I make a mistake?"

Nanoha shook her head, smiling. "Oh, no no! You've been doing a wonderful job. It's just that I want to handle the housekeeping chores for awhile, for a change of pace. It's only a short break. You can resume in a few weeks, okay?"

That seemed to bring the other woman some relief. "Alright, I understand. Good luck, and I'll see you in a few weeks then!"

The call was ended, and Nanoha nodded to herself; that would give her plenty of things to do. As she finished cooking, she placed the food out on the table, just in time to catch an excited Vivio coming back down, all ready for school. The two talked as they ate, and then Nanoha took her to school before heading off to work, glad for the extra distractions.

x~~*~~x

She doubled up on her training courses, too, working to teach twice as many classes during the day. The Bureau was always looking for skilled mages to teach, having a shortage of them, so they welcomed more teaching time. After she finished signing up for them, she turned back to observing her current class work through holographic simulation, following their progress in multiple screens and making notes.

[Grenna needs to work on her evasion skills, and Junt is still having trouble with that bind spell; I'll have to set up extra tutoring classes for them,] she thought to herself, scheduling the personal tutoring sessions in one of the floating holo screens. [But Firl and Lethwarta's shooting magic is getting much better. Perhaps I should schedule barrier training for them now?]

Her hand hovered over a screen on the periphery of her vision, and she froze. [When did I open that one?] It was her e-mail, and Yuuno's name was selected. She recalled she had opened it, to see if he had sent her any message, but there was none. A small part of her mind had debated sending him one, but for some reason, she couldn't find the courage to do so. [What is wrong with me?]

"You're distracted," came a familiar flat voice.

"Vita-chan!" Nanoha exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

The smaller girl raised an eyebrow. "So I noticed. You've missed the fact that your class is struggling against the higher difficulty level. I thought they were only scheduled for Rank B fights today? You've dialed it up to Rank A+."

Alarmed, she realized she had, and quickly dialed it back down. "Oops, I guess I hit a wrong key."

"Is something wrong?" the hammer knight asked, although it came out as more of interrogation-type question.

"Not really," Nanoha lied cheerfully. "I guess I just have a few things on my mind, that's all."

There was a moment of relative quiet, as Nanoha felt herself being studied.

"Uh huh," Vita said at last, but her next words indicated she was willing to let it go, for which the taller woman was grateful. "Well, I'm here, so let's split them up and begin working individual skills."

Inwardly, Nanoha let off a sigh of relief as she closed her e-mail window, then returned her focus to the cadets. There was much work to be done today, and she couldn't afford to let her mind wander.

x~~*~~x

The day passed with still no word from Yuuno. In the evening, after she put Vivio to bed, she finally managed the courage to tap out a short message to him indicating that she wanted to talk, but by morning, there had been no response. She didn't think too much of it, until she came home later that day, feeling a little better composed.

And that's when she saw the envelope taped to her door. Curious, she opened it as she stepped inside, her eyes trailing over the contents, her body growing cold and numb. It was obvious who it was from, even before she reached the end, but her mind had difficult wrapping itself around the words, and despite how many times she read it, the contents of the letter didn't change:

_Dear Nanoha,_

_ Words can't express how sorry I am for what I did to you. I know you probably can't forgive me, and even if you could, there would always be this hanging over you. Every time you'd see me, you'd be reminded of it. I can't do that to you. Perhaps I am a coward for leaving, but I'd prefer to be thought of as a coward, then cause you more pain._

_ But I don't think I'm a coward. I swear, I will find some way to make this up to you. I don't know when I'll return, but I'll be back someday, with a way to make you whole again. I can only hope there is something out there that will help me accomplish that. I can promise you that, if there is, I will find it. I've left another letter for Fate; don't worry, I didn't tell her everything. I just asked her to do her best to support you. I know she cares about you very much, and will do a much better job at helping you through this than I would._

_ Take care, and try to forget about me, in case I am unable to come back. I hope you can find the life you always wanted._

_ Yuuno Scrya_

Nanoha felt her vision began to blur slighty. [Oh Yuuno-kun, you idiot. Why did you have to do this? Why did any of this have to happen?]

She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, crumpling up the piece of paper and tossing it across the room, then bringing her legs up to her chin as she reclined on the sofa. She rested her arms on her knees, sighing as she buried her face in them.

Well, she knew how Yuuno felt about things now; the question was, how did she feel about it? Closing her eyes, she was surprised to find her thoughts strangely empty. It was an odd sense of relief, as she had been avoiding confronting those thoughts, and now when she finally had the courage, she found nothing there.

It had been two days since... the encounter; she couldn't even bring herself to call it what her innermost places wanted to call it. Somehow, to do so, would cause her more mental anguish than she felt she could handle at the moment. Perhaps it was her subconscious's way of protecting her psyche, or maybe, somehow, a part of her wanted to believe that it was something she wanted, something they both wanted, and that would make everything all right.

But he had run.

Disappeared.

That would explain why she had received no response to her e-mail. A quick call to the library staff confirmed that he had been gone on leave since yesterday; and now she had come home to find this letter taped to her door. He had been here, and hadn't even hung around to talk to her.

[The jerk.]

She shook her head; he wasn't like that, she knew. Even despite the whirlwind of her own thoughts, emotions, and feelings, she knew enough to see that he felt he had dishonored her... raped her. For a time, she was scared that might have been the case, but as time passed, she could think a bit clearer. It hadn't been his fault; there had been some magic there, that forced him to act that way. It brought him pain to fight against it, and so she had willingly given herself over to bear the pain of what happened, so that he wouldn't.

That's what she told herself now, but the real questions were: What would she do now? Should she track him down? Leave him alone and hope he comes back?

[Do I even want him back?] the thought came, mostly unbidden.

She heard the front door open, and a familiar worried voice call out, "Nanoha?"

"I'm in here, Fate-chan," Nanoha called back softly from the living room.

A mop of golden-hair peeked around the corner, a moment before the rest followed. Fate removed her coat and draped it over the back of a chair, before coming to sit beside her friend. She took a moment to grab a piece of paper out of her pocket and lift it up.

"I just got back from an assignment to find this letter on my door," she said, her voice obviously confused. "Yuuno said he was going away for awhile, and that you would need me. What's this about?"

Nanoha opened her mouth, but nothing came out. [Can I not even tell my best friend about this? Would she think less of me? No, of course she wouldn't; so why can't I say anything?]

Fate's gaze softened, and she placed a hand on Nanoha's shoulder. "Nanoha? Are you okay? What happened?"

"He didn't mean to," she finally squeaked, surprised at how soft the words came out.

The other woman's brow furrowed in confusion. "Didn't mean to what?"

"It wasn't his fault," Nanoha told her, although it was mostly to convince her, rather than her friend.

Fate sighed and placed her hands on Nanoha's shoulders, turning the girl partially to face her. "What do you mean? What did Yuuno do? Tell me!"

"Oh, Fate-chan," Nanoha managed before she broke down, hugging the other woman.

For the next thirty minutes, she babbled. Explaining everything that happened, always making sure to mention that it wasn't his fault, and that she was the one who let him have his way. But she also couldn't believe how the act made her feel; it shouldn't have been such a big deal, but it was. Why?

"And now, I just want to tell him that I don't blame him," she sobbed, finally getting out what was in her heart.

"Yuuno... raped you?" Fate breathed, seemingly trying hard to wrap her mind around the concept.

Nanoha raised her head and wiped her eyes. "No! He didn't want to, but he was in pain when he tried to stop. I don't blame him! I let him, and he's my friend, and I care about him, so I don't know why this is such a big deal. It shouldn't be. I just... don't know why I feel this way...."

"Because your most personal spaces were violated against your will," Fate told her straight up. "I know a few things about circumstances forcing someone to do things that a part of them didn't want to do, not only myself, but in the variety of people I've come across in my line of work. A part of you is angry for having something taken, and yet you feel you can't bring yourself to be angry with Yuuno, so you're conflicted. And now he's run out on you."

Nanoha opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Instead, she pulled back away from Fate and finished drying her eyes. [Am I angry at him? It wasn't his fault, though!]

"I'll find him and bring him back," Fate told her, solemnly. "We'll work this all out, I promise."

"No!" Nanoha pleaded. "He's probably just as confused and hurt as I am. I think we both need time. Let him come back on his own. Please."

Fate hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Alright, we'll give him some time. You should talk to a counselor, though. I'm not a professional, but I know one is needed in these cases; and you should have Shamal check you out. I'm not sure how rough he was with you, but you need to make sure there isn't any physical trauma."

Nanoha lowered her head and nodded. "I'll make an appointment in the next few days."

"And I'll stay here for awhile," Fate told her in a voice that would brook no argument. "Regardless of what you think, you shouldn't be alone."

Nanoha held onto the other woman, finding a life raft in a stormy sea.

x~~*~~x

Once Yuuno's eyes adjusted to the lower lighting of the restaurant, he scanned the large room, checking each table and booth. Eventually, he found his target and crossed over to sit down.

"Well, hello there, handsome!" the woman with flaming red hair flirted, giving me a seductive smile as she swirled her drink. "Didn't expect you to actually show up here, but it is a pleasant surprise."

"I'm sorry, this is business," he told her, sliding a photograph across the table. "I need you to tell me everything you know about this."

Yuuno had returned the next day to place a strong seal on the lost logia and return it to the vault, classifying it as dangerous, then informed his superiors that he needed some leave to do some extra research, which was granted. He also requested the case files on the device, but what he got was rather sparse. He knew that sometimes files got misplaced or lost, sometimes on purpose, but in this case, he felt like it might have been more the latter.

The record just included a date when the object was checked in; there wasn't even a name attached. Howver, Yuuno wasn't going to be stymied; he had worked up a number of favors over the years with various Bureau personnel, due to the extra research he had personally done for a number of them. He called in several of those now, and after several days, one of them finally got him the name of the agent who had retrieved the device. He got the distinct impression someone in the higher-ups knew what the object did, and had erased most of the information on purpose so he could use it when he/she wished.

And thus he arranged this meeting with the agent to get more information.

The woman, Captain Racheal Vespertine, glanced at it, her brow furrowing. "Hmm, this looks familiar... oh yes, I think it was over 10 years ago."

Yuuno leaned forward a bit, excited. "Can you tell me where you found it, and what you know about it?"

She sighed, shaking her head a bit as she stirred her drink. "I'm afraid I don't remember too much, as it's been a long time. Didn't the case file have the information?"

He sat back. "It was mostly blank, and I'm not entirely sure why. Can't you remember anything?"

"Well," she said, her expression changing a bit. "It was one of my solo jobs. A planet many teleportation jumps from here, near the edge of TSAB patrolled-space. I remember being out there for another reason, when I heard the locals talking about some problem they were having with one of the villages. I checked it out, and discovered they had been kidnapping and releasing people."

Yuuno's eyes narrowed. "Kidnapping and releasing? What for?"

"I wasn't entirely able to figure that out," Racheal admitted. "But I snuck in and managed to see them using this device. A woman led a bound and gagged male in and activated it, and they both disappeared. Several minutes later, they reappeared, minus clothes, the male unconscious. She rebound and gagged him, and carried him out."

The archeologist leaned forward, excited. This was almost exactly what happened to him and Nanoha. But he himself wasn't unconscious when they exited; maybe the woman knocked him out or something?

"I'm not sure what happened, but I recognized it as a lost logia," Racheal continued. "The Bureau has strict policies about the hazardous use of objects like this, and it was obvious they were using it for no good reasons. They had a number of good mages and warriors, so I didn't feel I could take it by force, but I was able to steal it and seal it. Barely got off the planet, though; they found out and chased me halfway across the continent to my small transport ship."

"What world was this?" Yuuno asked.

The woman thought for a moment. "I can't quite remember, as it was an un-administered world. Maybe 123? Or was it 132? I noted everything in the report, including the trouble surrounding that village, and the higher-ups promised they would do something about it. But my role in the case was over, so I moved on. You say there was no case file?"

"There was, but not much was in it," Yuuno told her. "Just a case number, and that a lost logia had been recovered, sealed, and placed in the vault." He took a breath, then told her his suspicions about what the device did, leaving out personal details, but suggesting it was used to force people to have sex.

She slammed her fist on the table, growing angry. "I'll be damned. Someone higher up must have realized what it could do, and erased the information so they could occasionally sneak it out of the vault to use. I should have followed up on that case!"

"Contact Lt. Colonel Hayate Yagami in Army Investigations," Yuuno told her. "I can vouch for her integrity; she'll help you find out who was behind that."

"I remember her from the JS incident, good mage, and her Sixth division saved our asses," Racheal noted, nodding, then frowned as he stood. "What are you going to do?"

"I've been in charge of identifying and categorizing the lost logia in the vault," he told her. "To see what can safely be destroyed and what might be useful. I need more information on this artifact, before I can safely say what to do with it."

"Well, good luck," she replied, lifting her drink in a salute. "I promise I'll bust the bastards behind this."

He nodded, and headed for the door. He had leads now, and hopefully those that were using the device, would know of some way to reverse what happened. The possibility was a long shot but he had to check everything and have hope; he wouldn't let Nanoha suffer.

x~~*~~x

A week passed with no word from him, and Nanoha finally managed to pull herself to Shamal's office. She hadn't wanted to, as it would mean letting another person know what happened, and there was a fear of something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on; an internal dread that didn't want to be found out. Fate had given her some slack to let her deal with things at her own pace, but as the week went on, she had increasingly prodded the other woman to action. On this issue, she was uncompromising.

"Okay, Nanoha, you can come in now," Shamal's announced, her smiling face appearing after the door opened.

Nanoha managed a smile in return, as she stood up and left the waiting area and entered the doctor's office. "Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

"I must admit, I was a bit surprised you wanted to move your physical up," the Belkan doctor admitted, closing the door behind her. "But I'm always happy to see my patients. Why don't you lay down on the bed, and you can tell me about why you wanted to move things up?"

Nanoha hesitated as she laid down and Shamal began her examinations, but she remembered that the Belkan Doctor was her friend, too. Slowly she began to tell her what had happened, noting the look of concern on the other woman's face as she went on.

"Shamal?" Nanoha asked as the doctor got some extra equipment out and began to scan her pelvis through her clothing. "What is it?"

"While I can see the signs, there isn't really any physical damage left; most of it has healed already," she started to say, then paused as she moved the scanner farther up. "How long ago was your last period?"

Nanoha felt a disturbing feeling in her stomach as she tried to recall. "Um, I-I think about... a month ago? I should be having my next soon..."

Shamal set the device down and fixed her patient with a look. "You're not going to. Nanoha, you're pregnant."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Yeah, I'm sure you all saw that coming, but hopefully there will be some surprises in the next few chapters. I had this planned out, so it's only coincidence that this comes out during the pregnancy talk of the last day or so, heh.


	3. Denial

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 3: Denial**

Xx~~*~~xX

"Shamal said you're pregnant?" Fate asked, not believing what she heard the first time.

Nanoha seemed to shrink slightly, but nodded in affirmation as she continued folding clothes.

Fate sighed, realizing that she had never seen Nanoha in this kind of state in all the years the golden-haired girl had known her, and it was extremely disquieting. Nanoha was normally was so strong, able to handle most anything thrown at her; and it was that strength that saved Fate herself from her early life; she could only remember one other time that Nanoha broke down and that was when Vivio was kidnapped. Even when Nanoha was incredible injured a long time ago, and took almost two years to recover, she remained strong. But this incident with Yuuno had really shaken her up.

Fate took Nanoha's hands in hers, forcing the girl to pause her clothes-folding. "It's alright, we'll get through this, I'll be here to help you, okay?"

Nanoha nodded and gave her a disarming smile, as she pulled her hands out and reached back into the basket for a shirt. "It's okay, I'm feeling better now. It's still a bit overwhelming, but I think I can handle thinking about it now. I just need time to mentally work things out."

"How did you feel after she told you?" Fate inquired gently. "And what else did Shamal say?"

Nanoha thought back. "Well..."

x~~*~~x

"That can't...." Nanoha started to say, trembling and gazing down at her tummy. [I'm going to have... a baby?]

"I just double-checked my readings," Shamal told her patient, her voice growing more soothing. She sat down next to the bed and reached out to gently stroke Nanoha's shoulder. "I know it can be shocking and overwhelming; I've had quite a bit of experience dealing with young women who suddenly find themselves pregnant, and the father is no where around."

"But Yuuno will come back!" Nanoha insisted, sitting up and hanging her legs off the edge of the bed, facing Shamal with confident eyes.

Shamal sat back, fixing Nanoha with a hard look. "So what will you do about the baby? What happens when Yuuno comes back? How do you think he will feel about it?"

Her head dropped. [I'm not even sure how I feel about this. What about how Yuuno feels? Would he leave me to raise it by myself? Would he stay? Do I want him to stay?]

"I'm not sure," she admitted, hesitantly raising her hand to gently rub her tummy, as if she could somehow feel the life inside. It was crazy, she knew; it was way too soon in the process for her to feel anything down there... right?

Shamal stood up and crossed the room, grabbing a business card and returning to hand it to Nanoha. "This is the name of a good counselor I know. I suggest you talk with her to help figure out your feelings. Will you go through with the pregnancy? Will you keep the baby? Will you give it up for adoption?"

Nanoha's head came back up. "Of course I'll have it! I couldn't imagine... killing it." Her other hand, the one holding the papers, lowered to cover her tummy as well, protectively shielding it.

The doctor smiled. "Good, that's what I wanted to hear. I had to ask. The Bureau doesn't like abortions, either, but as a doctor, I have to consider the physical and mental well-being of my patients first, and sometimes that is necessary." She gently took Nanoha's hand to help her off the bed and back to her feet. "Go see Dr. Lorna. Once you get your own head sorted out, then you can confront Yuuno. Normally, I'd caution young mothers to not rely on the father if he's run out, but I know Yuuno. He's a good man; I'm sure he'll be back. You need to know what to say when you see him."

Nanoha thanked Shamal as she left, being handed more tracts about what to expect during the early pregnancy months. She knew it was partially something Shamal had given her to focus on because she had really decided to have the baby and keep it; she couldn't imagine giving it up.

x~~*~~x

Fate looked over the materials, holding up the business card in particular. "Have you made an appointment with this Dr. Lorna yet?"

Nanoha shook her head as she finished folding the last piece of clothing, then sighed as Fate looked at her. "I know, I delayed going to Shamal, too. I won't do that this time."

"Good, then once you start doing that, I can bring Yuuno back," Fate told her, imaging what she'd do to him when she found him.

"Fate-chan, I told you I wanted to let him come back on his own..." Nanoha said, hesitantly, looking up at the other girl. "I know he'll come back."

"Nanoha, things have changed, and he needs to know about this," Fate told her sternly. "This baby is his, too. We don't know when he's coming back, but the earlier you two work this out, the better."

Nanoha sighed again and began to gather up the clothes to take up to the bedrooms. "Can you wait at least a few more days?"

Fate thought it over, then agreed, nodding. "Alright, a few more days to see if he comes back. Then I go looking."

The other woman smiled at her as she stood up with a load of folded clothes. "Thank you, Fate-chan."

x~~*~~x

Yuuno checked his pack sitting next to him for the hundredth time, but it was still there. He knew he was acting rather nervous and he was mostly by himself in this corner of the cargo hold next to a few crates, but this civilian transport ship was rather seedy. He didn't want to risk taking taking the official teleporters, as they logged everyone that went through and he didn't want to be tracked. Nanoha might have reported it, or someone could have discovered what happened by now and he couldn't afford to be caught, not until he found a way to fix what had happened.

And what if he couldn't? The thought had come to him multiple times, and he didn't have an answer. Would he stay on the run, unable to face Nanoha again? Or turn himself in to face whatever punishment he deserved?

Yuuno found his thoughts drifting back to that moment; it felt like a dream to him, as he had experienced dreams of that nature before, given his feelings for Nanoha. And in dreamland, he could safely explore things knowing he wouldn't do anything of that sort to her in the waking world unless she returned his feelings.

But this time felt different; she didn't seem as accepting and he felt it might have been one of those darker dreams... until her pained voice cried out for him to stop. Somehow, the scene came a bit more into focus and the horrifying thought came to mind that perhaps this wasn't a dream. But the pain started then as he tried to stop himself; he couldn't force himself onto Nanoha this way, not if he could help it.

Once again, her voice and touch got through to him, somehow soothing the agony in his mind and lulling him to sleep. The pleasurable cloudiness descended on his mind once more, and he found he didn't have the strength to fight it anymore, and instead welcomed its seductive embrace.

Until he woke up and found her under him, and it was blatantly obvious what had happened. Her teary, pained, and red-streaked face also made it obvious that he had hurt her, violated her, badly. In one moment, he had damaged her in the worst way possible.

_How could I possibly apologize and atone if this doesn't work?_

He shook his head and pushed it aside; he'd have to deal with that if it came up, as he couldn't think of an answer at the moment. Right now, he was just grateful this low-class transport wasn't too picky about passengers and accepted straight cash without any need for ID. It was also slower than the Bureau ships, but that was an acceptable price to pay for anonymity, despite the rather unsightly bunch that were his shipmates.

The undercover archeologist pulled his hood farther over his head, part of a longer cloak that he was using to conceal his features, and brought up up a holo screen to check his information again. Racheal had sent him a bit more information which indicated her travel route as best as she could remember all those years ago, although it was a bit sketchy and jumped all over the place, so he had his work cut out for him. Still, he managed to narrow down the possibilities.

She had said unadministered world #132 or #123 initially, which left him scratching his head. #132 was closer to the edge of TSAB-patrolled space, but #123 wasn't, so he scratched that one off for now. There were, however, two other possibilities; if she really meant #231 or #213, then that would make more sense, as both of those were closer to the edge with #231 right on it. His current course would take him past #213, so he'd check there first, and if he couldn't pick up when he was looking for, then he'd continue on to #231.

"Hey there, friend, why are you all the way over here by yourself?" came a deep male voice that also cast a shadow over Yuuno and his screen. "Why don't you hang around with us? We're having a great time at the other end!"

He shut it off and looked up, seeing a pair of the seedier ruffians looming over him, one being considerably taller and bulkier than the other. "I prefer it this way, but thank you for your offer."

The larger one loomed over him more, while the smaller and skinnier one said, "I don't think you understand, friend. Loners make everyone nervous, so we'll need you to socialize."

Yuuno snapped as the large hand came down on his shoulder, and he raised his own glowing hand. The big man promptly backpedaled, gasping and choking, hands grasping for his face, but unable to get close as a green bubble had appeared around his head, blocking all oxygen.

"What the...?" the skinny one blurted in shock, as the big man eventually fell backwards with a loud thud. He turned to Yuuno. "You're... a mage...."

"I said I prefer to remain alone," Yuuno repeated, canceling the spell so the big man could breathe. "Take your friend and go."

The skinny one was trembling a bit with fear, but shook his hand in defiance. "You'll pay for this!"

Yuuno ignored the pair, as the skinny one helped the bigger one up and they left. He couldn't afford to be bothered with lesser concerns; he had a more important mission to accomplish, and he would finish it no matter what.

x~~*~~x

Fate took her own vacation time so that she could watch out for her best friend. Nanoha was in a situation that she had never been in before, and despite what she said, Fate knew it was affecting her deeply; she wasn't over it yet, and probably wouldn't be, until things were worked out between her and Yuuno.

One one had, she knew Yuuno, and knew he'd never deliberately do this to her, so Fate believed that magic was involved. But on the other, he had made things worse by leaving the way he did, despite his pledge to "make things better" whatever that meant. He was a good guy overall, but she supposed this incident affected him as greatly as it had Nanoha. But she still felt anger at him for abandoning Nanoha like this; what was he thinking!?

She still really wanted to go hunt him down, but Nanoha had made her wait a few more days, which could make the trail go cold; Yuuno could be halfway across the galaxy by now. She had put out some feelers already and had a few decent leads, however.

Nanoha still really believed in him, and Fate hoped she was right to do so; they had a relationship she really couldn't comprehend, that wasn't quite friends, and wasn't quite student and teacher. Maybe there was a bit of family and deep mutual respect there, but if so, Fate couldn't understand why Yuuno ran. Sure, he could have just kept distance at the most, until receiving word about Nanoha, but he had left the entire planet.

Fate sighed as she drove Nanoha from the counselor to work; canceling the morning classes to make time for the counseling session had been another one of the things she insisted Nanoha do. As she glanced out of the corner of her eye to the passenger seat, Nanoha smiled, but Fate could tell it still wasn't reaching her eyes.

"I told you I'm fine, Fate-chan," Nanoha chided her. "The counseling session helped, and I've been scheduled for weekly ones. And you have my promise I'll take it easy at work, but I'm mostly okay now. I just feel like I need to keep involved, or I'll go stir crazy. I'm not a glass doll; I need to get out there and do things!"

Fate half-smiled. "I know, and I won't stop you. But you'll have to forgive me for worrying anyway."

"I know," Nanoha admitted softly, with a tone that indicated her true feelings were peeking out for once.

[I'll protect you from anything,] Fate vowed mentally. [Even from yourself if need be.]

x~~*~~x

Nanoha knew Fate was there, standing far enough way to watch, but not interfere. When Nanoha had thrown up this morning, Fate had been particularly insistent she cancel classes and take it easy, but Nanoha had expected what was going to happen from the information Shamal had given her, and so she could handle a little unpleasantness in the morning.

A part of her was glad her friend cared, but she could handle things, and sometimes it felt like Fate was hovering over her a bit too much. She was still fully capable of teaching her classes even despite the pregnancy; it would be months before it became a real hindrance to physical mobility, and even then, she could still teach some things. She wasn't about to let this stop her.

She couldn't let it stop her. Even the counselor agreed with her, mostly.

x~~*~~x

"Your friend seems to care about you a great deal," Dr. Lorna noted, as she closed the door, seeing Fate seated outside and waiting. "Please, have a seat

Nanoha sat down on the couch hesitantly. "Thank you. And yes, Fate-chan and I have been there for each other for a long time."

Lorna sat down behind her desk and smiled gently. "That's good, we all need the support of friends in a troubling times. Now, why don't you lie down and tell me about your most recent difficulty."

"Okay, but there isn't that much to tell," Nanoha replied, laying down to gaze at the ceiling, the intricate patterns up there seeming almost hypnotic. "Due to the activation of a lost logia, a friend of mine was magically forced to have sex with me, and he ran away in guilt, and I'm pregnant. I can deal with it now."

"I'm sure you can," the psychologist agreed, chuckling lightly. "But you'll have to humor me, as I have to ask questions and talk about things; otherwise, it makes all my years of studying pretty pointless!"

Nanoha was forced to giggle as well, probably the first time she had laughed even a little since the incident.

"Now, if you'll pardon my asking, how were you feeling at the time of the sexual encounter?" she asked. "And please, try to be as honest and straight-forwards as you can, regardless of how you might feel. This is only to help you, and I'm legally bound to not tell anyone what you say, no matter what."

"I know that, it's just that I don't know what else I can say," Nanoah replied. "I remember being confused as to what had happened, then worried because Yuuno seemed to be having some sort of painful headache. Then scared because he suddenly was kissing and forcing himself on me."

She could hear the counselor typing, obviously making notes. "What were your feelings towards Yuuno before this?"

"He was one of my best friends," Nanoha answered. "From childhood, we were fairly close."

"So you grew up together, then," Dr. Lorna concluded. "Did you suspect he developed any feelings for you during your times together that might have influenced him?"

Nanoha thought back over the years; did he? "No, I don't think so. We were fairly close, and we exchanged things like birthday and Christmas presents, and occasionally we did things together, but I don't think he felt that way about me..." She paused, realizing something and promptly sat up. "I know what you're trying to say, that Yuuno had feelings for me and that made him force himself on me. He wouldn't do that!"

"I'm not trying to say anything," the female counselor declared. "I'm only trying to get at the truth of feelings. Once we have that base, we can work on where to go after. If we don't confront those truths, the pain will continue to fester inside us. I encourage you to continue, it will help, I promise."

Nanoha thought it over, and decided to accept it for now, so she laid back down. "And besides, even if he did, on some level, want to... have sex with me, he was definitely compelled to. And I let him, because he went into painful spasms when he tried to stop himself."

"Is Yuuno someone you would have been okay having sex with in other circumstances?" the doctor inquired.

The patient paused, thinking it over. "No, at least, I don't think so. I never really thought about him that way, I suppose. I could only do that with someone I really loved, and we were just friends, and I'm not..." She trailed off.

"So you didn't want to have sex, but because he was in pain, you allowed yourself to be raped?"

"It wasn't rape!" Nanoha nearly shouted, sitting up again and blinking at the water in her eyes. "I let him!"

"Nanoha, I've counseled many young women in your position," Lorna explained. "A lot of them say it wasn't rape, because they let the other party have their way. On some level, it's the psyche protecting itself, because then they can admit that they weren't violated against their will."

"But it was Yuuno!" Nanoha insisted strongly. "And he was magically forced to as well!"

The doctor nodded. "That may be, but the fact remains that it happened against your will. You didn't want it, and wouldn't have done it. Even if something was controlling Yuuno, that something is responsible for putting you in a very uncomfortable position. It may have been Yuuno physically there, but something else used you, even if it was just non-intelligent magic. And your body responded, thus you feel betrayed on some level. I read that your daughter was kidnapped once; it's a similar concept. Something happened that you couldn't prevent, only rape happens on a much more personal level, and thus is much more damaging, especially if we don't confront it."

Nanoha stared at the doctor, tears in her eyes, suddenly seeing the dreadful truth she was still suppressing. By focusing on Yuuno, she was able to suppress the fact that it was rape, and it didn't matter if it was Yuuno or something else responsible. It didn't matter if she had let it happen by telling herself it was just Yuuno.

Her face dropped to the floor, and she slowly wrapped her arms around her body. "I... really was... raped." The last word was barely above a whisper.

Lorna stood up and came over to sit by Nanoha, reaching out to rub her back gently. "That's a big step for anyone to admit as we all come up with distractions and excuses to ignore that truth. But it's not the end, even if you were; it's how you go from here that matters. I've read your file and what you've been through; you're a strong woman, so you can get through this, too. I know you won't let this stop you."

Nanoha dried her eyes and looked up, feeling incredible vulnerable, but also somehow oddly comforted. "Thank you..."

She smiled. "Thank your friends, too. And I'll go ahead and recommend that you can go back to work, as it's also important to get back into routines and resume our lives, but we'll meet once a week, alright?"

The other woman nodded, suddenly feeling grateful.

x~~*~~x

As Nanoha watched the current crop engage in combat exercises from the holo screens that were also recording various data statistics, she was glad that she could keep working. She knew now it might have been a distraction, but it was also her life. The doctor was right on at least one point: she wasn't going to let this stop or cripple her.

But she was also glad that no one else had been told yet about the incident and her condition, and she wanted to keep it that way. That would lead to uncomfortable questions about the baby's father and birth circumstances, and she still hadn't quite been able to figure things out in her mind yet. While she knew she felt violated now, she also still realized it wasn't really Yuuno's fault even if he had some feelings for her (and she wasn't entirely sure of that right now). For her part, she did care about him; she just wanted to talk to him and work things out first.

She wiped the tear from her eye, wondering how it got there. [Yuuno, where are you? I want you to come back so I can tell you I'm not upset.]

Nanoha shook her head to clear it, and almost wished she hadn't, as she got a strange feeling of vertigo. She took a step back to steady herself, but she found her legs unresponsive.

The last thing she recalled before her collapse, was Fate shouting her name.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

A bit more serious than I'm used to, but going where the story leads. I'm also going to take a moment to do a little preaching.

Rape is never much about the sex, and most rape doesn't involve it much at all, actually. The reason it's so bad, is because it happens against our will, and our bodies respond to it, despite us not wanting them to. Men can be raped this way as easily as women, so there should be no gender bias. It's this betrayal by our own bodies that forms a lot of why we hate rape so much.

There are various other reasons, and for each person it can vary, but this is why it was difficult for Nanoha to approach. Even though she had accepted that Yuuno was forced, and she let it happen to spare him the pain, it still meant she was forced by something, and that something is what she had(and still has to) to confront.


	4. Anger

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 4: Anger**

Xx~~*~~xX

Shamal withdrew her hand from Nanoha's head. "It looks like fainting and dizziness, from being on your feet so long."

"But I'm not even that far along for it to affect me that much!" Nanoha protested from the hospital bed. "Am I?"

"Every woman is different, with regards to specific pregnancy symptoms and when they get them," the doctor replied. "In some, the uterus can expand and interfere with blood flow to your legs, which causes your blood pressure to drop, making you light-headed. I'm going to recommend you try to stay off your feet for long periods, and eat a bit more food to increase your blood sugar level. Before you protest, you can still stand around to teach, just take enough sitting rest breaks when you can."

"So she's okay, then?" Fate asked, feeling relieved. She feared the worst when Nanoha collapsed, but if this and a small bump on the head was all she was suffering from, she could rest a bit easier.

Shamal nodded. "Just let me know if you feel or encounter anything else out of the ordinary."

Nanoha sat up and thanked the doctor, and as the two left, Fate could see there was something else on her friend's mind, but also knew she wouldn't talk about it just yet. She only hoped that it wasn't going to be too major, and that Nanoha could work it out.

x~~*~~x

_She cried out in pain and he laughed, slapping her face to shut her up as he continued to use her. Her body shook and shuddered, rocking back and forth, as he took his time and pleasure from her. All this time she ignored him, but now she wouldn't ignore him any longer._

"No, stop!" Yuuno protested, as he watched himself violate Nanoha, but chains held him fast, and he couldn't move.

_The other Yuuno turned to sneer at him, not pausing in his actions. "Why stop? This is what you wanted and now she is yours. You need only press your advantage to cement it." He roughly shoved down to emphasize the point, making the woman under him scream._

"This is not what I wanted!" he protested, tears forming in his eyes. "I just wanted her to be happy!"

_"What does her happiness matter?" the other Yuuno barked, standing up and grabbing her hair to lift her up. "Take a look. See how she doesn't fight? She's already yours and you don't even realize it. Remember what you did. It was you who did this to her!"_

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Yunno screamed, surging against the chains that bound his wrists and ankles to the wall. "I didn't... I was..."

_The other Yuuno laughed. "Can't finish it, can you? Are you sure you want to go there? YOU did this; there is no denying it. I am the you that faces the truth, while you hide in fear of it." He dragged Nanoha over by her hair, lifting her up and shoving her face near his._

_"Yuuno-kun, you did this to me," came her soft, gentle voice that used to bring him such joy. "But it's alright now, I forgive you. You can have me over and over now, please; I don't mind." She reached up and cupped his cheeks in her hands, smiling vacantly and hauntingly. "I'll be a good wife to you, staying home to raise our children, cooking and supporting you. I won't risk my life with magic so I will never leave you."_

"N-Nanoha..." Yuuno uttered, trembling and sweating, hearing some words that he had always dreamed of hearing; but something was wrong. "This is isn't you... this isn't how I wanted you to be; I want you to be yourself!"

_"But it's too late for that," the other Yuuno told him nonchalantly. "You did this to her. You broke her."_

Yuuno turned to fix the other him with a strong glare. "But I want to fix things! I'm going to make it right, so she doesn't have to suffer. Somehow, no matter what, there has to be a way! I can't ask for forgiveness; no matter what the cost, I'll make it so she can live a normal life again, like before!"

_His words were greeted by a laugh. "There is no way, and you know it. Now be a man and take responsibility for what you've done. Take her and show her that you'll be her master now."_

_"I love you, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha cooed, wrapping her arms around him, her naked body pressing against his, kissing his cheek. "I'll love you forever and ever, because it's the only thing I can do now. Just like you always wanted..."_

_x~~*~~x_

Yuuno awoke in a cold sweat, panting, sitting upright as the blankets fell off him. He hugged and rubbed his body, making sure he was really awake, the cool breeze against his moist skin confirming the reality of his situation as the effects of the nightmare slowly faded. As his breathing slowed, he wiped his face on his arm reflexively; why were his eyes watering so much?

He shook his head; it had been getting worse and worse, as the dream had come to him most nights now, becoming more abominable with each iteration. The cold numbness in his gut grew more pronounced, as if something was now missing and he'd never be a whole man ever again, along with the fear that he'd never be able to undo what happened.

All his life, he only wanted to protect her; he loved her, but she seemed to be more happy with Fate, so he stepped back to let her go. It hurt a bit, but he knew enough that it would hurt more to drag her out of her happy life, as he had no right.

And now he had betrayed that protection, he had been forced betrayed her in the worst way possible by something else, and he couldn't wipe the painful memories from his head.

"No, it was my fault, I won't blame anyone or anything else," he told himself softly, shaking his head and then looking at his clenching and unclenching hands. "I could have fought harder. I could have done something, and not given up so easily, and then we wouldn't be in this mess. I failed her; it was me, and not something else. I won't blame anything else, I can't."

He sighed as he got out of bed in his motel room, taking note it was still light out, the time indicating it was only a couple hours past midnight on this planet. He knew he wouldn't be getting anymore sleep tonight, so he took a hot shower, hoping it would somehow burn the memories from his mind, or perhaps the heat would get scalding hot enough to incinerate him. That's what it would take, because no matter how clean he got, he always felt that there was a layer of filth that just wouldn't go away.

Yuuno seethed and clenched his eyes in pain, realizing he had subconsciously turned up the shower all the way. Perhaps he should just pass away here; it would be what he deserved.

A hand shot out and turned it back down, and he sighed in relief. [No, I can't die here, not yet. Not until I've at least found a way that Nanoha can be made better.]

He finished the shower and decided to go for a run in the cool night air; perhaps it might help a bit to clear his head.

x~~*~~x

Unadministered world #213 was sparsely populated, and Yuuno considered that a blessing. It meant he could more easily determine whether this was the right world or not. Most of the population was centered around the town near the starport, with the rest mainly workers on several large farms and mining operations.

A stop by one of the larger bars confirmed he wasn't likely to find what he was looking for here, as Racheal's notes indicated that she had picked it up from a more rural village. That left world #231, which was a short hop by transport ship, and since #213 was a major agricultural export world, there were plenty of cargo ships ferrying goods out to other planets.

But the one that would take him in the direction he wanted wasn't due to depart until tomorrow, so he had to take a room in a motel for the night, although he almost wished he hadn't. Still, having that dream there was better then having it on a ship.

And with any luck, he could learn more about the object on the next world, and find out something that would help Nanoha. If it was a dead end, too, he'd backtrack to #123 or #132, exploring any possibility, no matter what the cost.

x~~*~~x

Fate stepped up to the teleporter to begin the first of many hops. She had managed a lead that someone matching Yuuno's description had been seeking passage on a cargo ship, one of the ones that didn't require much in the way of identification, just cash. That made him harder to track, but not impossible. She did a check on the transports that left after that, and narrowed down the possibilities to three ships, as Yuuno hadn't been seen looking for transport past the departure of the last one.

Of those, one ship had just picked up a load of minerals, so space would have been very limited; she doubted that he would have been on that one. But the other two were more viable possibilities, as they had both offloaded goods and then left for more, so that gave her a 50/50 chance. One was a produce ferry and the other carried completed goods from off-planet companies; which one did Yuuno take?

She was guessing the produce ferry, as the furnished goods transport wasn't quite as seedy in picking up travelers, and thus was starting a series of teleports that would bring her along the ship's route. With any luck, she could find out where Yuuno had disembarked.

As the teleporter initialized, Fate wondered if Nanoha was doing, hoping that she was doing the right thing, and that her friend would be okay while she was gone....

x~~*~~x

"You know what I have to do," Fate told her solemnly, knowing that Nanoha was aware several days had passed.

Nanoha nodded. "Alright, please don't hurt him, though. Just let him know that I don't blame him, and that I want him to come back. I think he was hurt as badly as I was. He was scared, like I was."

"I know," Fate agreed softly. "I can't promise anything, but I'll find him and bring him back, as much for his sake as yours. Also, Shamal has cleared her calender, and I got Aina back to take care of the house chores. And as for your classes..."

"I know, I'll talk to Vita, too, and let her help out more," Nanoha replied, looking down at the hands in her lap. "I might have to tell her why as well."

Fate put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You don't have to tone down your teaching too much, just a few small changes."

Nanoha nodded again, placing her own hand on the one Fate had on her shoulder, and giving it a gentle squeeze as a way of thanking her.

x~~*~~x

In the end, Nanoha found she couldn't tell Vita the full reasons, just that Shamal had ordered her to take it a bit easy for awhile. She laughed it off and said it wasn't much, but she had a feeling that Vita didn't fully buy the story. Still, the hammer knight had relented when Nanoha said she was fine walking home that afternoon; she didn't want the other girl to know about her counseling sessions, and she had an appointment.

And she wasn't a glass doll; she wouldn't shatter at the slightest thing and she wanted people to get that through their heads. She could take care of herself! She was still more than capable of that, despite her condition.

Once more, her left hand went to rest on her stomach as she traveled along the sidewalk, somehow analyzing if she could feel the life within her yet. But there wasn't much difference between the hundred other times she had checked. On one hand, she somehow felt a sense of wonder and joy at the thought, but on the other, it was also a reminder of how the baby came to be.

She stumbled sideways a bit and her right hand shot out to steady herself against a wall as the memories came back again, seeing not Yuuno, but something else, vague and formless, taking advantage of her body. Nanoha shook her head; she could admit she had been raped now, but why did it still affect her so strongly? The more she thought about it, the more revulsed and angry she became. Unconsciously, the hand against the wall became a fist.

"You don't look like you're doing so well," a male voiced noted with a bit of concern. "Me and my friend here can help you out."

Her head was down, so she didn't see their faces, only felt their presence. "You want to... help me out?"

"Yeah, we're pretty good at that," a different voice told her, and she deduced it must have been the first one's friend. "We can take you someplace if you need help. It'll be a lot of fun, too!"

"I... see..." Nanoha noted in a calm voice that was anything but. Her head came up as she fixed the two men with a glare. "I think I can handle things myself."

"Don't be that way," the first one noted, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. "You need help and-" He didn't get a chance to finish.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Nanoha screamed, batting his hand off with her left, while her right came up, pink magic charging.

His eyes widened, but he couldn't react in time as Nanoha fired into his gut, knocking him off his feet to land on his back. Turning, she focused on the other man, who was actually more of a teenaged boy. His quivering face as he took a step back was only partially noted by Nanoha as she fired on him, too sending him to land on his friend.

"P-please, stop!" the first pleaded. "We're sorry, we didn't mean any harm!"

"No harm?" Nanoha questioned softly, magic still glowing at her fingertips. "Just fun?"

"Yes yes!" the other declared, his voice cracking in fear.

"Then what's the problem?" Nanoha told them in a normal voice, but one that oozed menace, both hands coming up. "I find this to be fun."

They screamed as she fired again, blasting both down an alley where they landed in a heap. Before they could move, she discharged her next attack, slamming them into the wall of the alley's dead end, alternating hands as to batter the pair with unending force blasts, not even taking note that they were both unconscious now.

"NANOHA STOP!" cried a female voice.

She found her arms pinned to her side by a simple bind spell, but before she could break it and resume her attack, a small form had interposed itself between her and her targets and was walking slowly toward her.

"They're unconscious, there's no need to continue," Vita beseeched her calmly. "You've done enough, it's over now."

Nanoha blinked, the red tinge in her vision fading that she hadn't even realized was there. "Vita... chan? What did I...?" The bind spell faded and she dropped to her knees, eyes quivering as she glanced back and forth between the bloodied males and the small girl.

Vita placed her hands on Nanoha's shoulders, gazing into her face with a gentle look. "It's over now, you're alright."

Nanoha broke down, hugging the smaller girl around her neck as she cried, to the sounds of approaching sirens.

x~~*~~x

Yuuno took a seat at the bar, keeping his hood up and cloak around his body, ignoring the other patrons. He knew they were studying the newcomer, but he didn't want to attract too much attention... yet.

"What can I get for you?" the barkeep asked, cleaning a glass.

"Something good, but not too strong," Yuuno told him. "And also some information."

Like most towns that sprung up around starports, this one functioned as sort of a gathering place for people and information, from all over the planet. If something had gone on, or was going on, somehow on the planet, he should be able to pick up some hints here.

"I have just the thing," the barkeep said with a smile, beginning to fix the drink. "What kind of information were you looking for? Perhaps a decent vacation spot? Interest in acquiring rare goods?"

"I'm looking for information on kidnappings and abductions," Yuuno told him quietly, studying the man's reaction.

The barkeep raised an eyebrow, but finished the drink and slid it over. "That's kind of vague. Like any planet, I suppose there's something of that sort that happens here occasionally."

Yuuno briefly looked down at the drink that was tinged a bit brown, but also glowing a faint yellow. "A series of them, perhaps happening most often over ten years. Perhaps mostly male victims." He took a swig of the drink; it was a bit vile, but it gave a pleasant tingle and the aftertaste was rather interesting.

"Now that you mention it," the barkeep said, his head tilting a bit. "I think I do recall some rumors about that."

As he paused, Yuuno understood and slid money across the table, which was triple what the drink cost.

"Ah yes, I do recall there being some trouble on the eastern continent," he recalled, taking the money. "It's not recommended for visitors, as men have gone missing occasionally. Some return, some don't. Of the ones that do, most can barely remember what happened, while others appeared disturbed and didn't want to talk about it. And some were babbling wrecks, barely able to say their own name."

[Paydirt,] Yuuno thought, excited. It could be something else entirely, but he had a good feeling about this.

Out loud he asked, "And no one knows what's going on? No one has done anything about it?"

The barkeep shook his head. "It's very heavy jungle over there, with trees hundreds of meters tall and thick foliage. People long learned to just steer clear and they were fine. No one really knows what's going on; could be a disease or a poison from an exotic animal or something else. The law only stretches so far on this planet if it's something more sinister. And that's about all I can tell you, though I recommend strongly that you not go there."

Yuuno downed the rest of the concoction and slid more money across, smiling. "Thanks for the drink."

The barkeep nodded as Yuuno stood up and headed outside, mulling it over. Even if the information was good, there was still a chance that it wouldn't be the location he was looking for, but there was only one way to be sure. The eastern continent was across an ocean, and unless he wanted to try his luck flying across, he needed some transportation. Flying for too long was dangerous if he got tired midway or got caught up in a sudden storm; plus, he wanted to conserve his magic.

He sighed as he walked along the street; his follower wasn't doing a very good job of hiding himself. He debated just simply teleporting away, but instead he was intrigued; he needed to know who was following him and why, and thus stepped around a corner of a three-story building and levitated up into the air, waiting.

The shadowy figure eventually crept around the corner, features mostly hidden due this world's sun having gone down a few minutes ago. His pursuer was probably perplexed at his disappearance, but started quickly down the street anyway to find some sign of him. Yuuno floated along above, waiting for the right moment, then dove down and grabbed the person, pulling them into a side alley and hitting them with a chain-bind.

"Hey, let me go!" his target shrieked with a female voice, catching him by surprise and elbowing him in the gut an instant before the chains took full effect. Her cap fell off, revealing a lock of shoulder length hair, and she turned to stare at him, surprise on her face. "You! Why are you doing this!?"

Yuuno studying the freckle-face girl as he rubbed his stomach;, she appeared almost as old as he was. "You were the one following me. I wanted to find out why. Well?"

To her credit, she appeared a bit ashamed, but still defiant. "I have very good hearing, and I overheard you asking the barkeep about the abductions. I can help you."

His raised an eyebrow. "How would you be able to help me? And why would you?"

She hesitated, then looked down at her binds. "Can you release me first? And we can talk back at my place. It's not much, but I can at least offer you a place to sleep and a meal."

She wanted something, Yuuno knew that much for sure as she was being unusually generous, but he couldn't figure out her game. Still, she wasn't a mage and didn't appear too threatening, so maybe he could learn something. He dissolved the bind spell and she rubbed her wrists, nodding in thanks, then retrieved her cap.

"It's not far, I'll show you," she told him, stepping out of the alley.

Yuuno had to admit he was intrigued, and he could delay his journey to the eastern continent at least until tomorrow. Still, what exactly could she tell him?

x~~*~~x

He wasn't the only one seeking information at the moment, as someone else had been asking questions, but she was growing frustrated at the answers. Fate had been asking around on this planet for several hours, and some people might or might not have seen him, possibly, maybe, but they couldn't say for sure.

Had she guessed wrong? Did he take the other transport ship? Or did he really get off-planet in another way?

She took another sip from her drink as she sat at her table, debating her next course of action. Obviously, her next lead wasn't just going to drop in her lap, so she had to think like Yuuno; what could he be doing? What could his reasoning be for leaving the planet? How did he expect to "make things better"? Just by his absence, or did he have a particular destination in mind?

Fate sighed again and took another drink; she had tasted better, but it wasn't bad, and the low alcoholic content was just enough to relax her mind a bit. She was hoping for a random burst of inspiration, but failing that, the general pleasant buzz was of some comfort.

"Damn brat, it's all his fault," a male voice drifted over from nearby. "We lost standing in the group thanks to him."

"I'm sorry I let him beat me," another male voice replied, then came a bang on the table. "If we meet up with him again, I'll show him a thing or two. No glasses mage is gonna make a fool out of me twice!"

Fate blinked, straightening up. [Could it be possible?]

She stood and crossed over to the round table where the two guys were seated, pulling up a chair. "I couldn't help but overhear you two having mage problems. Care to tell me about it?"

Both men looked at her with suspicion, before the skinny one asked, "Why should we? And who are you?"

She smiled deliciously. "Someone who can help with your problem. I make a living hunting down mages and... punishing them. Care to tell me about your encounter?"

The two looked at each other, then began to talk, and as they did, Fate's smile grew wider. [Got you, Yuuno!] It appeared he had really intimidated and embarrassed the two, and she was quite impressed, although she knew that the normally quiet Yuuno was quite a skilled mage. She settled on a small price to complete her mage bounty hunter image, although she had no plans to collect; there was a bigger prize at stake.

She spared a thought for Nanoha, reaffirming her vow. She was gonna bring him back, regardless if she had to tie him up and knock him out. She'd apologize to Nanoha later, for any roughing up that might occur.

One way or another, Yuuno was coming home.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Depending on how familiar you are with certain subjects about the way humans deal with things, you might be able to pick up a few things in this chapter. If not, it'll be made more clear next chapter.


	5. Men and Women

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 5: Men and Women**

Xx~~*~~xX

Yuuno took another slurp of the warm soup in front of him. It wasn't the best, but it was good enough and it was warm, and best of all, free. But that only took up a small portion of his mind, as he listened to the girl named Quinn tell him her story.

She was 19, which made her one year younger than himself, and she had been living with her brother in this run-down house for the past year. It wasn't too bad, as it did keep out the rain, and the fire in the corner stove did keep the place warm enough. And despite conditions, they were relatively happy, but had been trying to earn enough money to make it off-world, to a better-run TSAB administered planet in search of a better life.

All that changed a couple of weeks ago, when he was sent off by the company he worked for to the eastern continent to do some trading and never returned. Since then, she had let the company employ her as well, to do various errands, hoping she'd learn more about his disappearance, but never was able to figure out much. The severance pay she had received from the loss of her brother was almost enough to get her off-world, but she couldn't leave without finding her brother first.

"I know he's alive somewhere," she told him from the other side of the wood table, occasionally digging into her own soup bowl. "And I want to go search for him, but I know I'd never make it over there. But you're a strong mage! I can tell. I have a little magic potential, but nothing like you can do."

"So you want me to look for your brother as well, and try to bring him back if I can?" he ventured.

She paused, looking down a bit, then her eyes came up, pleading. "Not quite, take me with you! I've learned some things, and I know a bit about what you'll find over there. I know you probably have your own business, but I won't be a burden. There's a lot I can do, even with just a little magic. I can make a meal out of anything, and I have some supplies we can use!"

Yuuno considered it; he wasn't sure how much help she would be, and while it might be safe enough traveling in a normal jungle, if they came across hostile forces he wasn't sure he couldn't protect her. And partly, it would be easier to travel alone, as he wouldn't put anyone in danger.

He sighed and shook his head, pushing his mostly empty soup bowl away. "No, I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do alone. If you tell me what you know, I can promise to bring your brother back if I find him. Or at least let you know what happened if I can't."

She stood up and put her hands on the table, taking a deep breath. "Please, I promise I won't be a burden! I really need to do this, and I need your help. I'll do whatever you want, pay anything, to go along!"

"Money isn't the issue," Yuuno told her, rubbing his temples.

She crossed over and sat beside him, giving him a tender, pleading look, then taking his hand in hers and placing it on her breast. "You can... stay with me. And while traveling, I'm sure it will help to have someone to keep you warm at night...."

Yuuno stared at her, feeling the curve of her skin under his palm as his hand began to tremble. In his mind, he could still recall his almost dream state-like memories of his encounter with Nanoha, feeling the firm roundness of her breast under his hand, and then the nightmares that followed where a blank Nanoha, a shell of her former self, gave herself to him over and over. He couldn't allow himself to succumb again and ruin someone else.

"Thank you for the offer, but no," he told her withdrawing his hand trying to still his trembling. "I can't let you do that."

"What, am I not good enough for you!?" she shot at him, suddenly angry. "I know I'm not incredibly pretty like most girls, but I can still... do things for you!"

He stood up and moved away. "Thank you for the meal, and I still promise to see what I can do for your brother. But I'm not the kind of person you think I am."

She sighed, giving him a defeated look. "It was probably stupid of me, anyway, wasn't it? I just want my brother back so badly, as he's the only family I have left." She sighed again, as he waited for her next words. "Alright, fine, if you'll keep that promise, I'll tell you what I know."

Yuuno nodded, giving a slight smile as he agreed, and she began to relate what she knew of the flora and fauna, as well as the few small trading outposts and villages that were known. The abductions usually happened farther inland, but they were fairly spread out over the inner east continent, so she couldn't narrow anything down.

When Quinn was done, she suggested he spend the night at least and get a fresh start tomorrow morning. She seemed honest and sincere enough to let him go on alone, so he took her up on her offer and she showed him to her brother's room.

As he lay there, Yuuno wondered what exactly he'd find when he got over there, but one thing he felt for certain: he was nearing the end of his search. If he was going to find out anything that would help Nanoha, it would be there.

Xx~~*~~xX

"Well, it seems like you had a rough couple of days," Dr. Lorna commented, looking over her patient's file.

"Yeah, I lost control a little bit, and injured two civilians," Nanoha told her, staring at the ceiling from where she lay. "They're pressing charges, and the Bureau has put me on administrative leave while things are worked out."

"That would explain why there was no response to my attempts to reach you," the counselor noted.

What Nanoha didn't say, was that she had avoided picking up the phone as she didn't really want to talk about it; that tended to lead to places that held unpleasant surprises. But upon her breakdown, she confessed to Vita what had happened, as the girl had refused to leave her side upon helping her home. Nanoha confessed as part of an agreement for her to be left alone, and that led to some other interesting insights...

Xx~~*~~xX

"What?" Nanoha said, not believing what she had heard.

"I know exactly how you feel," Vita told her in a flat voice. "I'm no good at comforting people with this sort of thing, but I know what you've been through, because I've been through it, too."

Nanoha tried to wrap her mind around. "But... how? You're so strong, I don't think that anyone could do that to you."

"I spent a long time in the book as a program, remember?" Vita informed her, tapping her head. "Although I remember enough to know I was human once, and am becoming human again. With that, comes more fragments of old memories. I remember a lot of my old masters, people I was devoted to serve no matter what; I couldn't go against it. Only a very few were somewhat good; most were bad and delighted in ordering us to do whatever they wanted.

She paused, fixing Nanoha with a steady glare. "And yes, it included that. Signum and Shamal probably got the worst of it, as most didn't have an interest in young girls. But there were some who did, and my body technically isn't fully matured, so I was quite... small, compared to my masters. There was a lot of pain, and I didn't even have the option to fight, or to even say no."

Nanoha stared aghast at her. "I... never even considered.. .I mean, I assumed some of your masters would be bad, but that..."

Vita shrugged. "It was a long time ago.. Though, while I didn't technically want it, pleasing my master fulfilled a basic need in me due to my programming, so I told myself that's what I was doing. Just filling another command, no different from the rest, as if he had ordered me to attack someone who fought back and injured me. I was feeling pain from a command nonetheless, and it was just another injury that the book would heal me from eventually."

"How did you..." Nanoha started to say, then paused. "How do you deal with it?"

"Maybe I didn't, I dunno," she admitted, looking as vacant and haunted as Nanoha had ever seen her; it was such a striking departure from what she knew of the little firebrand. "It was a long time ago, like I said, and my memories are still a bit fragmented. I just focus on the present, preferring not to dwell on the past. Just like you'll learn to do one of these days. 'Time heals all wounds' or something like that. I'm sure Shamal could tell you more if you asked her."

"I couldn't do that, pry into her life like that!" Nanoah protested.

"I can talk to her and I'm sure she'd share what she's been through, although I'm not entirely sure how much she or Signum remember," Vita confessed. "It's not something we really talk about, and not even Hayate really knows how bad it got. But I don't want to see you suffer like this, even if I have to remember all of it, if that's what it'll take to help you. We all want to do what we can for you, because you've done so much for us and Hayate."

Nanoha's head dropped, as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Vita was always like that, ever since she was injured by that robot all those years ago, the small hammer knight had seemed somehow overprotective of her. She partially thought it was sweet, and was just the girl's way to make up for her feelings of failing to protect Nanoha all those years ago. She never really suspected how deep it went, until now.

"But I am glad you told me," Vita told her in a softer voice, kinder than she had ever heard. "I don't know anything about that lost logia, or how you really must be feeling right now because my own memories aren't that complete, but none of us are going to think any differently of you, and all of us will do what we can to help."

"Vita..." Nanoha said, her head coming back up.

"I won't tell anyone, and if you're sure you'll be okay, I'll keep my promise to let you be for now," Vita said, throwing up her hands in a defensive motion. "You told me, so a deal's a deal. Just know that I'm close by if you need me."

Nanoha couldn't help reaching out to hug the girl, surprised when the gruff hammer knight didn't fight it as she normally did. Even more surprised when Vita hugged her back. In one way, they had become closer than before, through the sharing of similar circumstances.

And it gave Nanoha more to think about, as well as the courage to keep her rescheduled appointment.

Xx~~*~~xX

"Yeah, I guess I was afraid of coming here," Nanoha finally admitted.

"And apparently, afraid of men?" Lorna offered.

"I... don't know," Nanoha said, surprised to find out she really didn't know. "They came onto me, and touched me, and something just snapped inside. I didn't want them near me for some reason. I don't know why."

"It's another natural reaction for women in your position," the psychologist explained. "You're feeling anger now, and because it was a man that violated your body, your psyche is now defensive against them. And yes, before you say anything, I know Yuuno wasn't to blame. Still, it was a male causing you pain, and your psyche has associated the idea of a male with that of unpleasantness and pain."

"I'm not afraid of Yuuno or other men, though," Nanoha protested. "At least, I don't want to be.... how do I get over this? Is there anything I can do?"

"There's no real easy answer," Lorna answered. "Most of it deals with working through your feelings, and fully accepting what happened. Possibly even directly confronting what started the feelings in the first place, to teach your psyche there is nothing to fear."

"Confronting Yuuno..." Nanoha whispered, closing her eyes and visualizing him, still wondering how she felt about him. She could admit she felt pain now when she thought of him, alongside the contradictory feeling of closeness and friendship.

"Also, there is something called the Five stages of grief," Lorna continued. "Denial is first, and we worked through that when you admitted that you had been raped. Next comes anger, which we just talked about. You were angry at being violated, and wanted to take it out on anyone you could; they just happened to be there at the wrong time."

Nanoha sighed. "So what comes next?"

"Bargaining, which I think you've moved into, when you wanted to know how to get over this," the counselor continued. "People generally want to do anything to just make everything go away. Next will be sadness, and finally acceptance. Not everyone goes through all the stages, and some are shorter than others, but most do to some degree. It's also important not to rush the process, to give your mind and body time to adapt."

A thought struck Nanoha as she opened her eyes and turned her head. "What about Yuuno? You're helping me through this, helping me sort through my feelings. But what about him? What would he be feeling?"

The psychologist inhaled as she thought about it. "It's hard to say without directly examining him, but from everything I understand, he cared about you as much as you did about him, and thus he seemed to feel really guilty for what he did to you; his body was forced to violate someone he cared very much for. He probably hates himself, and wants to atone somehow for what he's done."

"Shouldn't he know that he wasn't actually responsible?" Nanoha inquired.

"Yes, but in a way, Yuuno was violated, too, and that's even tougher for males, generally speaking," Dr. Lorna explained. "Men generally have an impression that they should be strong, and there's the common perception that men can't be raped, even though it does happen. Rather than face that thought, Yuuno would probably rather assume he alone was guilty of it, hence his strong feelings to somehow atone. In a way, he's hurting as much as you are."

"I hadn't even thought of it that way," Nanoha remarked softly, feeling something painful inside, at the thought of what he must be going through. "Could you help him the way you've been helping me? Fate is out looking for him, so I want him to get help, too."

Lorna smiled. "I can certainly try, but these sessions are primarily for you right now. We'll deal with Yuuno when he returns. Now, let's try an exercise. Close your eyes, and I'll say a word, and you respond with the first word that comes to mind..."

Xx~~*~~xX

_"I love you, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha cooed, snuggling up to him._

_"This isn't like you!" he shouted, still struggling against the chains that held him fast, so all he could do was lay there._

_"You made me like this, so how could I not love you?" she asked, that vacant look still in her eyes._

_"I'll make you better, I swear!" he said, feeling his skin crawl and tingle at the same time, as she rubbed her full body against his._

_"Are you really doing that for me?" she asked him. "Isn't it really for yourself, so you won't feel guilt anymore? Nothing will change that, regardless of what happens. But you can still be with me. This is what you really want..."_

_She leaned down to lick his tears, then kiss down his cheek to his neck._

_"I just..." he started to say, "I just want you back the way you were, even if it wasn't with me..."_

_His skin crawled more as she reached his chest, but to his horror, this was also turning him on; why? He didn't want things to be this way; he wanted things to be normal. He wanted a normal love, and though that was out of reach now, he definitely did not want this kind of Nanoha... didn't he?_

_He shook his head, pulling up all the strength he could muster, and shouted at the top of his lungs._

"NANOHA NO!"

He came awake, panting, feeling the cool wind against his bare skin, evaporating the small amounts of perspiration that had built up. But something still seemed wrong, as his eyes finally focused and he began receiving telemetry from the rest of his body, and he had the bad thought: [Bare skin?]

Someone was on top of him, kissing his bare chest for real, the other hand stroking his boxers. He attempted to sit up, but he found his wrists and ankles bound in a spread-eagle position.

"H-hey, stop it!" he ordered, pulling on the binds, his eyes focusing more. "Quinn? What are you doing!?"

"Shh, it'll all be over in a little bit," she told him, her voice somehow strangely tinged with sadness. "I promise I can make you feel good, and then you'll see how good it will be to take me along. I can keep you company."

Yuuno's mind began to panic, as it repeated [I can't do this!] over and over again. The fear was creeping up, along with the pleasure, but some small part of him found a will to resist, focusing on his magic. The binds holding him were magical, and fairly decent ones, but he just needed to force enough of his own magic into them and then...

They broke and he surged upwards as she had begun to pull down his boxer shorts, and he roughly pushed her off to land on the floor, summoning up a chain to wrap around her naked body. Panting, he sat there and stared at her, while she stared back, angry and defiant.

"I'll go to the police and tell them you tried to rape me," she told him, trying to turn her body to cover her nudity. "It'll be a long time before you get out of town."

He continued to stare at her for quite awhile, almost not believing what had just happened, then sighed and dissolved the bind spell. "Fine, I'll take you along. We'll leave tomorrow morning. Just don't try to do that again."

"Thank you," she told him, surprising him by the genuine gratefulness of her tone as she quickly retrieved her robe and headed to the door. She paused a moment before exiting. "Is Nanoha your girlfriend or sister? I know I shouldn't pry, but you were moaning and calling out for her a lot."

"You're right, you shouldn't pry," he told her pointedly.

She apologized and left the room. Yuuno cast a low level barrier around the bed before going back to sleep; it would protect against further attempts, but truth be told, he was more worried about having the nightmares again.

Xx~~*~~xX

Quinn awoke the next morning to a surprise, finding herself chained to her bed with Yuuno sitting in a chair nearby. She wondered if she had misjudged his nicer nature, and that he was going to do something horrible to her, in response to what she had done. She hadn't wanted to it, but after two weeks, she couldn't find anyone else willing or able to assist her in finding her brother, and he was her only family left. She'd do anything to save him, because she knew he'd do the same for her.

"That spell will last for 4 hours and then dissolve, but I'll be long gone on a boat for the eastern continent by then," he informed her.

She tried to speak or scream, but found she couldn't.

"And yes, that's a magical gag over your mouth, too," he explained he explained, then headed for the door, pausing before going through. "I'm sorry to do this to you, but it's for the best. I promise I'll bring your brother back if I can."

And then he was gone, and she could only just lay there.

However, true to his word, the spells eventually dissipated although she felt another sense of loss, as she had let her guard down and lost a great chance to find her brother. There was also anger at how he had lied to her and chained her down, rejecting her advances as if she wasn't woman enough. Spurned her, even though she had been willing to do anything for him, if he'd just help her.

So it was three days later that a gold-haired woman came by with a picture of him, asking if anyone had seen him. She debated inwardly at first if she should say something; if this was that Nanoha he spoke of that was looking for him for some reason, she was still angry enough that she didn't want the two to meet. Odds are, he was looking for her, and she was looking for him, and Quinn would rather he keep looking to find her brother.

But then she realized she was probably being a bit harsh, because after all, she was the one who had thrown herself at him and despite her actions, he had still promised to find her brother if he could; he could have just told her he changed her mind before he left, but he still seemed to be willing to go through with the deal.

"Hey," Quinn called to the golden-haired woman across the bar room, who slowly turned around to look at her, curious. "I think I've seen the man you're looking for, and I know where he's headed."

Xx~~*~~xX

The charges were still ongoing, but the Bureau was going to settle with the pair for an undisclosed amount, which satisfied the men. Still, Nanoha would be on administrative lead for another month or two, to "clear her head" before they eased her back into duty. Although, she knew that when they eventually found out she was pregnant, she'd probably end up going off duty again. Still, it was something, and while she partially glad for the break, she still wanted to do something to keep her mind active and perhaps a bit distracted.

Fate had e-mailed her at least once a day, letting her know the progress of how things were going, and that she was confident she was on the right track and would find Yuuno soon. As the days passed, Nanoha felt more and more confident she could face him; even though it would be difficult, she could recognize her fears and take steps to confront them, even though the specter of what she might have to do to finally get over them, continued to haunt.

Still, things were definitely starting to look better, as she walked towards her next counseling appointment, one week later. She had been able to form a lot of questions in her mind, that she was confident Dr. Lorna could help her with, and even could relate that she had been through sadness, and was finally on her way to full acceptance, the last step.

Oh sure, she'd keep seeing the counselor for as long as they felt she needed to, just in case; she was quite aware there was more than she probably needed to know, both about her situation, her feelings, and the things she kept hidden even from herself. But it was all thanks to the counselor that she had gotten this far, although Shamal, Fate, and vita had done their parts. But right now, she wanted to think of something she could do as thanks for Lorna in particular.

She rounded the block, suddenly growing confused at the police cars scattered around the street. [What happened?]

Curious, she continued walking, a dreadful feeling appearing in her gut the closer she came to them, noting the "police zone" signs and tape surrounding the entryway to a building. And not just any building, the one that held Dr. Lorna's office.

In a sudden panic, she broke into a run, covering the rest of the distance, beginning to duck under the tape to get further inside.

"Ma'am, you can't come in here, this is an official police investigation," a male officer told her, intercepting her.

"My name is Nanoha Takamachi," she told him, for once hoping the weight of her name meant something and could be used. "What's going on here?"

"The Nanoha Takamachi, the Ace of Aces?" he asked in disbelief, then shook his head. "Look, I'm sorry, but I can't make any exceptions, you'll have to stand back for now. You can contact my superiors, and if they agree to let you in on this, then I can allow you to pass."

"What's going on here?" a familiar female voice asked from the doorway at the top of the short steps.

"Teana!" Nanoha shouted, waving. "It's me! What's going on?"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Nanoha? It's okay, officer Malachai, I'll take responsibility for her, so you can let her pass."

Nanoha walked up to her, the horrible gut feeling growing worse. "What's going on?"

"Did you know a Doctor Lorna?" Teana asked, looking as serious as she'd ever been.

"I... had a few appointments with her, including one today," Nanoha admitted, as Teana would find out soon anyway. "Where is she? Did something happen to her?"

"Apparently, an ex-boyfriend of one of her patients tracked her down here," Teana explained solemnly. "He broke in and attacked her."

"Is she...?" Nanoha started to ask, unable to finish it as her strange numbness increased.

"Nanoha, I'm sorry," Teana said, looking straight at her honestly and sadly. "Dr. Lorna is dead."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

I'm beginning to notice how every chapter seems to end by making things worse for Nanoha. She just can't catch a break. Anyway, hope Yuuno's situation comes out a bit more clear, although I'll be addressing it a bit more in future chapters. The Wolkenritter past master stuff is obviously not unique, and it's not something I would normally address, but for the tone of this series, I found it made an interesting fit. Will probably be playing a bit more of a role in the future, too.


	6. Power

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 6: Power**

Xx~~*~~xX

"...and I was in the area and heard the request for backup in taking down a suspect with magic, so I helped capture him," Teana was saying, but Nanoha was only half-listening. "Since I'm involved now, they said they'd appreciate it if I stuck around a bit longer to help wrap up the case, and they'll need my testimony at trial. Since I also know you, I volunteered to be the one to take your statement."

Nanoha nodded numbly, not really feeling any kind of attachment to her body at the moment. She wasn't even really aware of the low rumble coming from conversations outside the office in the large reception area of the police station. In her mind, she just kept seeing Dr. Lorna's smiling face, listening to her fears and worries without judgment offering her friendly, gentle wisdom. Somehow, it wasn't real to think of her as being... gone.

"I won't ask about anything you may have talked about the counselor, but can you tell me if you ever saw these two before?" Teana asked, sliding two photos across the desk. "Ever speak to them? Did they say anything to you?"

Nanoha looked over them, then shook her head, not recognizing either.

"Did Dr. Lorna ever mention any trouble she might be having with a patient, or anyone else?" Teana questioned gently.

"No, she didn't, I'm sorry," Nanoha replied softly.

Teana reached across a laid a hand on Nanoha's arm, giving her a sympathetic look. "I don't know how close you two were, but I'm sorry for your loss. I wish this could be easier, but I also need to let you know that you may be contacted again. If so, I'll try to make it as smooth and easy as possible. I-"

The door to the office opened, revealing a policewoman. "Sorry to bother you, Agent Lanster, but the chief needs to have a word with you and fill out some paperwork. He also wants to thank you again for your assistance on this."

Teana sighed and stood up. "I'm not a full agent yet, but no problem. Nanoha, we'll have to cut this a bit short, but if you remember anything else that might help in this matter, please let me know. You're free to leave for now."

Nanoha nodded again as she followed Teana out, but pausing in the reception area as the policewoman led the agent trainee to another door on the far side, the thought repeating in her mind: [What am I supposed to do now?]

Before she could answer that question, a bit of a ruckus was raised as a couple of male policemen emerged from a side hallway, with a rugged-looked individual between them, his hands bound behind his back.

"...and my only regret is that I didn't get to her sooner!" he declared angrily and with arrogance. "Bitch was turning my woman against me. Bitches like that need to be smacked down before they ruin everything!"

"Uh huh," of the officers replied with absolutely no enthusiasm. "And you were just the one to do it, right?"

"Damn straight!" he told them, then noticed Nanoha looking in his direction and promptly surged away from the officers towards her. "What are you looking at, bitch?! You're just like the rest of them, keeping us down. I should smack you up and put you in your place!"

Nanoha took a step back, her arms and legs trembling, as the officers got control of himagain by slamming the suspect into a wall and cranking his arms up behind his back to subdue him. But Nanoha didn't see much of that, as the next thing she knew, she was outside and several blocks away, breathing heavily and still trembling.

She looked down at her shaking hands in fear. [What just happened to me? I shouldn't have reacted like that. I've never been afraid of people like that before!]

She tightly hugged her body, willing the shakes to stop, and to her surprise, they eventually did as a thought came to her. [Shamal. I need to see her again, and see if she can help me again.]

Confidence and courage rebuilding, Nanoha took off towards the medical facility where the doctor worked.

x~~*~~x

Yuuno was beginning to lose hope. He had been searching this jungle for almost a week, with no luck, and he'd have to venture back to the last village for supplies soon. Of course, the last village had confirmed that abductions had taken place around here, so he knew he was close, but finding the source was much like a needle in a haystack endeavor. While he had attempted to stay mostly to the ground and avoid flying to conserve magic in case it was needed, the jungle was so thick in places that it might as well have been a wall.

Although the last town had furnished him with another clue, as there was a legend about a village of beautiful women somewhere around here, but men who set off to find it, never returned. Of the few that did, most were babbling and incoherent, or shadows of their former selves, which made Yuuno really wonder what was going on out here.

Fortunately, he did have one advantage in the form of search spells; in fact, the wide area search spell he was using now, he had picked up from Nanoha. It was her initial use of it that first day, so long ago, that led him to develop his own search spells for the library, but he could use most of the full version now to cover greater distances. His current heading was largely based on that spell, as one of his emerald orbs had winked out of existence a bit earlier than normal. It could be nothing, or it could be indicative of something.

Flying now to save some time, his eyes scanned the thick foliage both below and ahead, but nothing seemed out of place, except for the arrow that nearly took him out of the sky.

[Arrow?] Yuuno wondered, putting up a round shield to deflect the swarm of arrows that burst from the jungle. He didn't sense anything magical about them, so his sense of danger lowered, which made him more curious than anything.

He dove through the forest top, catching glimpses of figures leaping from branch to branch, hiding behind trunks or disappearing into the thicker bushes on the ground. He prepared a bind spell as he flew through the tree limbs, hoping to catch one of his attackers for questioning when an opportunity presented itself.

Then a thick and extremely heavy net fell upon him, dragging him down to the forest floor. He could have teleported out of it, or put up a barrier to lift the weight off, but he ultimately decided on a different course of action. These seemed to be relatively simple natives, and getting captured could lead to a better discovery; he could always use his magic to escape later.

Yuuno made a show of struggling as he hit the ground, pausing slightly as women, barely clothed with animal fur, slowly surrounded him. Colorful, yet threatening wood masks to hid their facial features, and they each wielding a spear that was pointed at him. A faint sense of fear began to tingle at the edge of his senses, growing as they approached closer, and he wondered if somehow he might have miscalculated; something didn't seem quite right. A small part of him began to scream in terror, but he couldn't figure out why.

One of the women poked him through the net with her spear, and as he turned to her in anger, something struck the back of his head and his world went dark.

x~~*~~x

"I'm here to see Dr. Shamal," Nanoha told the receptionist, having finally got her emotions under control.

"Do you have an appointment?" the woman sitting behind asked, looking up.

Nanoha shook her head. "No, but I really need to see her, Shamal will know why."

"One moment," the receptionist told her, tapping into her terminal. "I'm sorry, it looks like Shamal is out at the moment, and won't be back for a few days. She's redirecting any patients to Dr. Phe in the meantime, whose office is just down the hall, just past Shamal's."

Nanoha thanked her, wondering where Shamal was; she had said awhile back that she was going to try and keep her schedule a bit more open so Nanoha could more easily get in to see her, so where was she? Nanoha sighed, and hoped this other doctor was just as good, or could at least recommend a new counselor to see. She also wanted to get a checkup on her baby, to make sure everything was still okay. She had been trying to eat a bit more, which helped with the lightheadedness, which also included some saltine crackers to abate the morning sickness somewhat.

She approached Shamal's office, noting the door just down the hall which must be this Dr. Phe's,t hen froze as the door opened, and an older male in a white doctor's coat stepped out, talking to another man.

[Calm down, Nanoha, he's just a doctor, and Shamal reccomended him, so he has to be okay,] she told herself as she took another step, but then her imagination fired up, seeing a scene of him examining her to check on her child.

She willed herself to move, but her body wouldn't respond, and he was beginning to turn around in her direction.

x~~*~~x

Yuuno awoke with a splitting headache, but figured that was the price he was going to have to pay when he decided to allow himself to get captured. He promptly found himself in a small cylindrical metal cage, that was hanging from a chain that stretched far up to the rock ceiling. There was just barely enough light to see anything, but he heard the roar of rushing water below.

"Good morning, friend, and welcome to hell," a male voice greeted him, causing Yuuno to turn around, seeing a man with a scruffy, dark beard in another cage.

"Hell?" Yuuno questioned, trying to get a better view of his surroundings, but only noticing a small ledge farther down with a pair of torches providing light on either side of a cave entrance.

"If you're wondering why you're here, well, you were captured by a bunch of beautiful women who will keep you around in order to help conceive children," he told his prison mate.

"That shouldn't really seem like hell to most men," Yuuno noted.

The other man chuckled. "No, I suppose it wouldn't on the face of it, but it's not that simple. Ah, here they come, and you'll see for yourself."

Yuuno looked down at the far ledge, making out a group of women emerging from the cave and into the cavern, a pair of them supporting a limp form between them. The seemingly unconscious individual was thrown into another cage, which proceeded to raise upward at a 45 degree angle to join the other two. Yuuno realized the man wasn't unconscious, as his head lolled from side to side occasionally, and he babbled incoherently a little.

"Looks like Treg won't last much longer," Yuuno's talkative cellmate noted sadly. "I'm surprised they bothered returning him."

"What happened to him?" Yuuno asked, studying the incoherent person; the lights were on, but there didn't seem to be anyone home.

"The process is rather... unsettling," the other man replied. "You'll eventually find out about it yourself, if they deem you 'worthy,' heh. Though you appear good-looking at least, so maybe they'll let you have slave-status, and actually be allowed to mate normally with them. Oh, by the way, my name is Mallory."

Yuuno's head instantly locked onto Mallory's face in surprise. "You... you're Quinn's brother?"

His eyes widened. "You know Quinn!? How is she? Is she alright?"

"Last I saw, she was well enough," Yuuno replied, deciding to not relate exactly how he left her. "She told me you disappeared here, and asked me to find you; she wanted to come herself, but there were.. a found things she was tied up with." It was close enough to the truth, anyway.

"I'm glad she hasn't tried," Mallory said, with some relief. "She'd never make it here. Getting out of here and back to her, is about the only thing that's kept me going."

"I'll get us both out of here, don't worry," Yuuno told him. "I have a plan, but there's a few things I need to do first."

"Really?" Mallory asked, cautiously hopeful. "Well, if you need help with something, let me know. Not that I can be of much help; what little magic I have is sealed, thanks to this damn collar."

Yuuno suddenly noticed he had one on, too, and a test quickly proved that he couldn't focus his magic, either. He definitely got the feeling he was pulling mana in, but his spells diffused as he tried to cast them.

[Yeah,] Yuuno realized despairingly. [I definitely miscalculated.]

x~~*~~x

Nanoha cursed herself for being a coward. She knew, logically, there should have been nothing to fear, but for some reason, her body just wouldn't move forward. In the end, she retreated back to her house, the one place she felt safe.

[The great Ace of Aces, who has faced down numerous threats and enemies, reduced to quivering at the sight of a man,] she berated herself darkly. [I don't want to feel this way! I want things back how they used to be.]

"Oh, Miss Nanoha," Aina noted, surprised as she came into the living room. "I didn't hear you come in! I've just finished changing the sheets in the bedrooms upstairs and was planning to start cleaning the carpet down here, then go pick Vivio up from school."

"Yeah, things... came up," Nanoha replied, smiling. The woman did do a lot to help, and she was actually glad Fate had made her get the housemaid back; she was also pretty good with Vivio, which made her wonder.

"Aina, did you ever have children of your own?" Nanoha inquired curiously. "I don't mean to pry if it's too personal."

The housemaid smiled, wiping her hands on her apron and sitting down. "I don't mind at all. As a matter of fact, I do have a daughter. She's grown now and has gone off her own, though she still contacts me from time to time."

Nanoha took note of the far-off gaze and fond smile Aina was displaying. "So, you're on good terms with her? You feel you did a good job raising her?"

She nodded. "It was a bit difficult due to circumstances, but despite everything, I am glad I had her."

"Due to circumstances?" Nanoha probed.

"She was conceived in a night of passion when I was younger," Aina replied, wearing a smile that was both happy and sad. "I had always liked him, but we were a bit intoxicated at a party. However, he was real good about it, promising to be a good father. We started dating, and it was good for a time." She chuckled softly. "People said we were perfect for each other, and cheered when we married."

Nanoha leaned forward a bit. "What happened?"

"We just weren't meant to be," Aina replied a bit sadly. "We tried to make it work, but there were too many differences. We remained cordial to raise our daughter, but shortly after she turned 14, we decided we had to split up. We still remained friends, just recognizing that a romantic relationship wasn't working. I know it was a bit tough on our daughter, but we worked things out so she could live with either of us at any time." Her gaze shifted, studying her client. "Are you worried about being a good mother? From what I see of Vivio, you're doing a fine job!"

Nanoha shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Did Fate... tell you anything in the past few weeks? It's okay if she did; I won't be upset."

Aina bit her lip, then lowered her head a bit. "I'm sorry, but all she said was that you were pregnant, and not to bring it up or anything other details. Don't worry, I haven't told anyone else. There seems to be some other difficult issues surrounding it, which I suppose is why I felt like telling you about my daughter."

"I... guess I'm a bit nervous, not just about the baby," Nanoha replied, then hesitantly added, "but about the father, too. I've known him a long time, and I care about him, but I just don't know how things are going to be handled when he returns."

Aina stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling gently. "If you care about each other, then everything should be fine. And with good friends to support you, like I have seen from Miss Fate, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Thank you," Nanoha told her standing up, honestly grateful. "I think I'm going to lay down for a bit and think."

"Alright, let me know if I can be of further help!" Aina informed her.

Nanoha nodded, heading out of the room. She did have a lot to think about, and somehow she didn't feel as fearful as before, but wasn't quite sure why. The one thing she did know, was that she felt ready to face Yuuno, and indeed, knew that she needed to in order to resolve things.

But she had faith in both him and Fate, that they would return soon; she had to believe that at least.

x~~*~~x

It actually wasn't too long before his cage was lowered and Yuuno was roughly grabbed and pulled by two of the warrior women. They were wearing more normal clothes now, so his archaeologist mind wondered if the animal skins were just some sort of warrior garb or something to throw off their prey, like it did with him.

What he was most struck by, however, was that their short dirty hair, the scars on their faces as well as body, and the smell that told him they hadn't really bathed in awhile; this wasn't exactly the dream version of a village of warrior women that the local men may have been fantasizing over. But he was used to things like this, as he had come across numerous more primitive tribes in his archeology travels who usually didn't have the best hygienic practices.

"I need to speak to whoever your leader is," he told the woman, but they ignored him. "I have something of value that you may want."

"Silence, male!" a forceful female voice ordered as he left the cave and was brought into the evening light. "You are knew here, so it's understandable. But from now on, you will speak only when we allow you to. Do so, and you may get out of this with your life. Defy us, and only pain and death await you. You will refer to me Mistress from now on."

Yuuno got a good look at the person addressing him, noting that she was a bit less attractive than the two who were carrying him; not only did she have the random scars over her arms and legs, but she was nearly bald, only have a very short lock of black hair in the middle of the scalp, and an patch over her left eye. When combined with the whip she carried, it gave him a feeling that she wasn't someone he would have much success arguing with.

But he had to try, as the two women holding him followed Mistress. "I think it would be in your best interests to let me speak with your leader. I have something valuable that would probably be worth more to you then what you can get out of me."

She turned nodded, and the two women holding his arms, tossed him to the ground, causing his glasses to fall off, and before he could get up, something wrapped around his ankle and pulled him back through the dirt. As he flipped over on his back, he found a boot placed over his neck, Mistress glaring down at him.

"I could crush you like a bug right now," she told him calmly. "Understand that you are worthless to us; we could destroy you at any time. You only have value when we say you do. Anything you have, we will take. Is that understood? You may speak."

Clearly, reason wouldn't work on these women. "Yes." [For now.]

"Glad that we understand each other," she told him, then removed her boot.

The two women picked him up again and they resumed carrying him, leaving Yuuno wondering how he was going to get out of this as he glanced around the village. It wasn't quite what he was expecting, as there were numerous wood houses of various sized intermixed among the trees and greenery, even some built into the base of the huge, thick trees. He was being taken into one of the houses, and was promptly strapped and chained vertically to table. Across the room, was an interesting piece of machinery, but what was it for?

As the two women who dragged him here began working with it, Mistress addressed him again. "As you may have noticed, we are a village of mostly women, although we keep a few men as slaves. Thus, in order to get new children and fresh blood, we partake of male travelers who venture near. However, being with a man detests us, so we have developed a few different methods to get what we need."

She pulled his pants down, as one of the women brought a small hose over to him, and the machine was started up. All at once, he knew what was going to happen.

"Yes, this is a suction pump of a special design," she informed him. "We'll extract what we need from you first, and after we run through it a few times, we might grace you with a more direct mating. Males don't last too long until the third or fourth round, and thus don't work as well. We had someone look at you earlier while you were out; you're a fairly powerful mage, so we'll take our time with you, boy. Once we have a few successful pregnancies and can confirm them to females, we might consider your release."

Yuuno thought quickly as they began to attach the hose. "Ten years ago, someone stole a device from you, that transport two people into a special dimensional pocket and forces one of them to have sex with the other. I know where it is, and I can retrieve it for you!"

"I told you, being with a man detests us," Mistress told him simply.

"Not all of us, Gikan," came a new voice from the doorway. "The Procreat was a sacred artifact, and highly useful when used right. The success rate was-"

"I know what the rate was, Leethe!" Mistress, now known as Gikan, shot back. "We still have methods, and they've been working decently!"

Leethe shook her head. "Not well enough. Not enough men come by anymore and you know our issues with pregnancy; our numbers are dwindling. At the least, Arla should be made aware of this offer so we can decide on its merits. I will take responsibility for this prisoner."

Gikan glared at the other woman for awhile, and Yuuno could detect quite a bit of tension there; it was obvious they didn't see eye-to-eye and had clashed in the past. But after awhile, it seemed Gikan relented.

"Very well, he's yours, as you do outrank me for now," Gikan admitted, then smiled. "I look forward to your screw-up in this regard, so you lose your high position!"

The hose was detached, much to Yuuno's relief, as Gikan and her two followers left. Leethe came over to him, not physically looking too much better than the other women.

"Now," she told him in a tone that let him know she wasn't going to be much softer. "Tell me everything you know about our device, but remember, you are at our mercy here..."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Still not too sure about this chapter, but my Reverend Beta reader thinks it looks decent, so tossing it up (and thanks!).


	7. Bargaining

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 7: Bargaining**

Xx~~*~~xX

Fate wasn't exactly the best tracker when it came to pure wilderness, but she had picked up a few skills here and there. Still, she hoped she was following them right, although she felt confident she was at least heading in the general correct direction. Her map of the area, taken from an old assay done many years ago by a Bureau survey ship, had revealed a number of small villages and she had found people in some of them that recognized Yuuno from a picture.

Which meant she was on the right track, although she felt the sudden attack she came under, to somehow be a bit more of a confirmation.

Fate leapt out of the way as a masked female warrior descended, swinging at her with a wooden spear. Fate instantly brought out Bardiche and activated her Barrier Jacket, using Haken form to slice the wooden spear in half.

"Now, do you want to tell me why you suddenly-" Fate started to say to the girl who looked to be no older than 16 or 17.

She was was cut off as the warrior threw the broken spear down and formed a magical, flaming sword in her hands, leaping at the Bureau agent again. Fate blocked the first strike, then leapt out of the way of the second. The weapon her opponent was now using was fairly solid and strong, judging by how it slashed against Bardiche, but the wielder wasn't too strong of a mage as it only felt mildly warm. Fate guessed no more than B rank in power, as the woman didn't fly, but she was quite nimble at leaping around and jumping up into tree branches to follow Fate's flight.

Fate turned and attacked, decided to test just how strong that sword was, popping a couple of cartridges and switching Bardiche to Zanber form. A giant yellow blade met it's smaller red cousin, but Fate increased her magic output and the magical flaming sword shattered, the woman falling off the branch to land on the forest floor. Fate dropped low, pointing the point of her sword at the woman's throat, noting how the mask had fallen off.

"What are you waiting for?" the fallen warrior demanded to know after several tense moments. "You are the victor, take my life!"

"I'm more curious as to why you attacked me," Fate told her. "Care to explain?"

"You are trespassing on Quessna sacred lands," the warrior woman replied. "Although I am but a warrior apprentice, it is the duty of all our tribe to deal with outsiders."

Fate had seen the type before, in several of her cases, so realized a slightly different tact was needed. "Very well, I defeated you, and thus your life is mine. You now serve me."

The defeated mage blinked as Fate returned her weapon to the back of her hand. "But, I am the weaker warrior! I must die for my failure!"

"You will die when I say you can," Fate tacitly informed her, holding out her hand.

The warrior woman looked at, then took and and was hauled to her feet. "I am Frey. You are a powerful warrior, and would be a great asset to our tribe. If you wish, I can take you there and you can meet our sisters."

Fate raised an eyebrow, then smiled slightly. "That sounds rather interesting..."

x~~*~~x

Yuuno was returned to his cage, and as it ascended toward the top of the cavern, he tried to get over the disgust he was feeling; while a portion of it was directed at his captors, he reserved most for himself, because it was his choices that led to this, and he wouldn't blame anyone else. He'd take anything upon himself to avoid hurting anyone else again, especially if it meant he could fulfill his goal.

[Just let me find some way to help Nanoha, and nothing else will matter,] he vowed. [But will it? What about me? Even if I fix things somehow, can I go back to a normal life? I just want all these feelings out of my head, so I can think and act normally again. I just wish there was something, anything, that could allow me to go back in time to prevent all this from happening in the first place!]

The brooding male rubbed his temples, wondering what it would take so he and Nanoha could return to some semblance of a normal life, and to forget all these painful memories, including what had just happened. Seeing the women regard him as a mere... thing...

He now realized what Mallory had said about being in Hell. His groin was a bit sore as despite the talk he had with Leethe, and later Arla, they had still extracted seed from him. He had to give them credit, as it was effective, but they only gave him two minutes rest between sessions while they changed storage vials. However, it was a price that needed to be paid.

"Welcome back," his cellmate greeted him as the hanging cage locked into position. "How are you doing? Do do you still have an escape plan?"

Yuuno thought back to his conversation with the two women, in order to try and get his mind off his darker thoughts. "Maybe..."

x~~*~~x

"So this is the one who claims to be able to get our Procreat back?" the woman Leethe had identified as Arla questioned. The way she barely glanced at him told him volumes about how the women here felt about men; it was if he was cattle.

"So he tells us, but I am unsure," Leethe replied, crossing her arms over her small chest. "I don't entirely trust him."

The Arla woman, who was supposed to be the leader of this tribe, looked him up and down, taking note of the way he was still strapped to a vertical table with his pants down. "Nor should you. But he has heard of the Procreat; there is no mistaking the description. Tell me, male, why do you tell us this?"

"I only came seeking information about it, because it hurt a... friend of mine," he answered honestly, figuring he had nothing to lose. "My name is Yuuno Scrya, and I'm an archeologist, as well as the librarian at the Bureau's Infinity Library. Lately they had me cataloging the lost logia, ancient magical devices, in their vault, and it was here that I came across your Procreat. I would have no problems returning it to you, since it originally belonged to you."

"I assume in exchange for us letting you go?" Arla questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Not just that, but Mallory, too," Yuuno declared. "And I'd like to have more information about the object as well as your history with it. As I said, I'm an archeologist, so I like getting information about ancient objects."

"Interesting, but you don't exactly have the strongest bargaining position," she told him bluntly. "And we have no reason to trust you. If we let you go, might never come back. And worse, you could let others know about us. It's a risk I don't believe we can take." She turned and headed towards the day. "But we will won't extract from you for now, while I think about it. Leethe, bring in the other male instead."

"No," Yuuno stated evenly. "Leave him be. You can... extract from me if you leave him alone."

She turned back to study him, obviously intrigued. "Very well, male, we can agree to that much, for now."

She left, and Leethe approached him. "At the very least, we can do several direct matings if you wish; I am not so cruel as some of my sisters, and I know it's a bit more pleasurable for males."

Yuuno eyed her muscular body and small chest through her loose tunic and pants, and the part of him that was pure male jumped at the chance. But there was a deeper concern within him now.

[I don't want to betray Nanoha,] he realized. Even despite the fact that she's probably never forgive him, and there would be nothing between them, she was his first and he'd remain loyal to that. And a deeper realization that he could barely face right now, was that a part of him wanted to be punished as a way to assuage his guilt.

"No, I can't," he said at last, meeting her gaze evenly. "You may not understand, but that's not acceptable to me. You'll have to take it via other methods if you intend to do this."

Leethe obviously looked surprised. "The only other method is the machine. If we had the Procreat, I could force you to, and then use the sister device to erase your memories." She shrugged. "You are strange for a male, but it's your choice."

Yuuno's ears perked up at that. "Erase memories?"

Her eyes narrowed and she waved it off. "I've said too much as it is. Sisters!"

More women entered to assist with the machine as Yuuno went quiet, realizing he wouldn't get more information out of her, but she had provided an interesting tidbit....

x~~*~~x

Yuuno tried to still his disgust at being manhandled, used, hooked up like a cow to be milked, while he continued ruminating on what Leethe had said; if they had such a device, that might explain why those that escaped or were released, had messed up memories. It would be a great way to make sure their village stayed hidden. But why didn't they simply kill the men?

The answer came almost immediately; a rash of deaths would raise more of a ruckus and perhaps bring in a force to discover who was killing them. By leaving them alive and messed up, it created more fear as to what was going on, and some of the men could eventually resume a normal life, thus not as much impetus to create an army to deal with the problem. It would also seem like some sort of a disease or infection, and thus not as strongly implicate that someone was behind it; he had been told that most of the returnees did seem rather feverish. A threat of a virus would keep a group of people away, because you couldn't fight that.

Yuuno absently wondered how long this village had survived like this, hidden, but right now he was suddenly feeling very tired; he allowed his eyes to close and blessed, dreamless sleep to claim him.

x~~*~~x

"So how close are we to your village?" Fate asked, rolling up her sleeping mat and returning it to her storage device where she carried a number of items for use on long assignments.

She had to give some credit, as this Frey seemed to be good on her word; she hadn't attempted to kill her during the night. Of course, Bardiche was on watch and would have woken her or threw up a barrier had Frey attempted something, but the warrior woman wouldn't have known that.

"We are close, we should arrive this afternoon if we travel all day," Frey replied.

Fate wondered just how far away they were. They weren't exactly traveling slowly on foot the whole time yesterday, as the woman made her way effortlessly through the jungle on branches and vines, leaping vast distances while moving at a good clip. Fate just stuck with flight, and although she could move much faster than Frey, she admitted she could be a bit hard-pressed at times to follow her.

But as she had said, they arrived later that day, or at least Frey told her they had. Fate saw nothing but more trees and jungle, however Frey took her hand and walked ahead, disappearing through some kind of barrier.

[A cloaking field!] Fate realized as she passed through as well, suddenly seeing a walled village ahead, filled with many other women. [Could this be what Yuuno was aiming for? Why? Well, I'll have a look around, and if I don't find him, I can continue looking elsewhere.]

"Frey, who is she?" another woman challenged them after they walked through the open gates. "You know we don't allow outsiders here."

She defeated me in battle, Leethe," Frey replied in deference to the other warrior. "She is a powerful mage, and would make a great addition to our village."

Leethe looked her over, and Fate returned the gaze evenly. "So you are taking her to Arla for judgment, then?"

Frey nodded, and Fate wondered what this judgment was supposed to be, but she also got a good look at the people of the village, and wondered exactly how many of these were actually women and how many were men. Nose rings, earrings, other piercing, short to non-existent hair, muscle, small chests, and various other features made them almost look like male brutes, rather than women. Only their walk and mode of dress seemed to indicate them as females. Fate wondered exactly what kind of village this was, as Frey herself was still rather feminine; would she age and disfigure like the rest of the older women around?

Curious, she communicated mentally with Bardiche to begin running some scans.

Leethe finally sighed after a few moments. "Very well, for your sake, I hope she is worth it. I shall take you to her."

Frey fell into step behind the older woman, but turned to talk in a hushed voice to Fate. "I am still a novice in the tribe, so I need the backing of an established warrior to petition Arla. I was actually out on my training hunt when I encountered you. It's tribal law to deal with outsiders, and I failed in this, so I expect to be punished. I had wished for you to take my life to spare me this, but I have no choice, as my life is yours."

"Just for failing to win against someone?" Fate asked, nearly aghast. "That hardly seems fair."

"It's not about fair, but about survival," Frey replied sadly. "Our village has survived for nearly 300 years because we deal permanently with every outsider. They either join us or are killed."

Fate didn't know how to reply to that, so just kept silent, but inwardly wondering if this was such a good idea. [I probably have to pass some test to join, then. They probably have other mage warriors around here, so there's no telling what I'd be up against if I tried to fight my way out. I'll just have to play it by ear.]

x~~*~~x

"She defeated me, and thus my life was hers to take, but she spared it," Frey summed up, kneeling before the leader of the village, a woman named Arla.

Once more, Fate found herself under scrutiny, but gave back as good as she got. Arla followed the general trend of looks like the rest, except she had a more full head of black hair.

"Your training has been slack, Frey," Arla noted. "I shall have Gikan step it up as punishment. But since you have brought this woman here, we shall see if she survives the initiation trial. If she as good as you say she is, then it should be no problem."

Fate allowed her teeth to show in a confident grin. "I can handle anything you throw at me."

Arla broke into a grin as well, then laughed. "Well said. I look forward to calling you 'Sister.' Frey, show her around the village; since you owe her a life-debt, you will pay it off by being her guide, to prep her for what is to come. The trials shall start tomorrow morning. They shall reveal your strengths and your heart, to see if you are truly worthy to join us. If not, only death awaits you."

Frey stood and bowed, then took Fate's hand, as they were obviously dismissed, but Fate wondered just what kind of trials she was looking forward; and how could they know her heart? She wasn't really deceiving them, but what if they could tell what he true motives were? However, one last line before she slipped out the door, shifted her thoughts.

Arla turned towards Leethe. "Now, gather the other blooded warriors, it is time we talk about the archeologist's offer..."

[Yuuno?] Fate wondering, her eyes narrowing once she was outside, Frey still pulling her along. [What could he be up to here?]

She kept her eyes open as Frey showed her around, barely paying attention to the girl's explanations, but she couldn't see any sign of Yuuno. Her curiosity was peaked when they passed by a rock cliff, and a cave entrance guarded by two warriors, as Frey explained that their prisoners were kept inside, as well as the males used for breeding.

"Breeding?" Fate inquired, her eyebrow raising.

"Long ago, our savior, the Holy Saint Olive, saved a large group of women from male domination and established this colony here for us," Frey explained as the pair continued walking. "She declared we were to be a free group of women, and thus following the holy words of our Saint, we became a group of women only. To increase our numbers, we occasionally take males to add fresh new blood and children, but it's been difficult lately."

"How so?" Fate asked, as Frey showed her into a small tent, that was one among a dozen.

Frey sat down on one side, while working the fire pit in the middle. "Our birth rate has declined dramatically. They try to keep it secret, but I hear the older women speak of it when they don't think I am listening. No one knows why, although I gather an artifact was taken awhile ago that was the main cause, so it's exciting that you've come! It's rare that we get an outside addition to the tribe."

Fate paused, getting a signal from Bardiche, and opened up a holographic screen for her to study.

"What's that?" Frey asked curiously, moving beside Fate to take a better look at it.

Fate's eyes narrowed. "I think I may have found your problem. There's a very slight radiation emission, almost undetectable. It's nothing too dangerous, but long-term exposure can cause damage, such as the ability to have children."

"Radiation?" Frey wondered aloud, curiously. "What does that mean? Can you stop it?"

"Maybe, if I can track it to the source," she replied, moving her hand around for Bardiche to get different readings, then stood up. "I think I've got a lead on it."

Excited, the younger girl followed her as Fate left the tent, working her way through the village, but eventually Frey suddenly grabbed her, preventing her from going any further.

"What is it?" Fate asked, then turned forward, indicating a stone temple building ahead. "We're almost there; I'm getting slightly stronger readings."

"We can't go in there!" Frey told her, and Fate was struck by the deathly serious tone in the girl's voice. "That's the holy temple of our Saint; the Paling artifact is also kept there. It's what keeps the village hidden from outsiders. No one is allowed in without strict authorization from Arla!"

Fate looked back at the girl, thinking, then turned forward again, noting the half a dozen guards standing outside. "If so, it might be this paling device that's emitting the radiation. It might be damaged, or not working properly. If you've been running it for almost 300 years, any number of things could have happened. Perhaps it wasn't even supposed to be run this long."

Frey bit her lip. "If you become a tribe member, perhaps you can explain this to Arla, and be allowed to examine it or fix it. Please just wait until after the trials tomorrow, okay?"

It wasn't technically her business here anyway, Fate concluded, although she did want to help. She reminded herself that her objective was to find Yuuno and bring him back to Nanoha, who was suffering because of what happened. That was the goal she had to remain focused on.

Reluctantly, she allowed Frey to take her back to the tent where they ate dinner, then turned in on minimal blankets. Fate waited until Frey was asleep, then slipped out into the darkness. She had no idea what kind of trials would take place tomorrow, so she needed to determine if Yuuno was here tonight, and if so, grab him and slip out. She could always come back later with additional help to fix the village's problem, but Nanoha and Yuuno came first.

She worked her way between buildings, heading in the general direction of the prison cave. She wasn't quite sure how she would get past the guards to check, but she'd figure something out. Although, as it turned out, she didn't need to.

At the end of a row of houses, she just barely made out Yuuno being escorted by several guards. Fate closed the distance as subtly as possible, getting almost into attack range when the group paused in front of one of the larger houses and escorted Yuuno in. Fate recognized it as Arla's, wondering what was going on. She worked her way to the side, and then behind the house, positioning herself below a window.

"Bardiche," she whispered, holding her hand up a bit.

While she worked up a particular spell on her own, her device translated the vibrations on the glass, transmitting the conversation within to a telepathic message inside her mind...

x~~*~~x

"Greetings, male, we've been discussing your offer," Arla told him from her wicker chair at the head of the low table.

Yuuno's eyes shifted around the room a bit, at the women standing around, before coming back to rest on her. "And?"

"We feel there is a decent chance of regaining an important artifact to us," she explained, standing up and strolling around the table, regarding him with just a little amusement. "When we began our simple male-less life here, our Holy Saint, Olive, furnished us with a number of devices, one of them being the Procreat. It was one of two devices the Belkan royalty used it to increase their power. They could force unwilling subjects to provide them with heirs, mixing mage bloodlines from rival nations."

Yuuno realized she was fulfilling a part of their bargain. "One of two devices?"

She didn't respond right away, but brought out a small black rectangle and waved it in front of him, smiling as it began to glow dark blue. "You've been in the Procreat after all. So were you forced? Or did you force someone else?"

"It was... an accident," he admitted. "Neither one of us knew what was going on."

"I see," she replied simply, turning back around and slipping the rectangle into a pocket. "This is the Procreat's sister device. With it, we can erase memories, so that any outsider we bring in and then release, won't remember our village or us. We will release you with a couple of our warriors, and a few precautions, the first of which will be your collar. Only I have the key to remove it, so when you return with it, we will unlock the collar and release you and Mallory."

She brought out a small golden key from inside her shirt, that dangled on a small rope around her neck, but Yuuno was more interested in the first one she had pocketed. Still, the key did get his attention, now that he know how the collar could be removed; but could he somehow get that key from her? If he did, he was confident his magic could get him out of this.

Arla gave him a smile smile. "Thinking about how you could get this from me? Don't bother trying; better men than you have attempted and failed."

Yuuno's own lips tugged upwards slightly. "So you feel two warriors and the collar will be enough insurance?"

Arla's smile widened more, as she replaced the key into her shirt and leaned down to pick another object off the table "We shall be attaching this to you. It ensures the loyalty of the few males we allow to stay as slaves."

Yuuno's eyes narrowed as he studied the new object, which looked like three rings bound together, with one of them a bit larger than the other two. Given the nature of the village, it's inhabitants, and what he had learned of their attitudes and behaviors thus far, his brain closed in the horrific implications.

Arla grinned. "You see it. Your two escorts will be with you at all times, and will have control over this; they can increase the pressure or shrink it down with just a thought. Should you try anything, or say anything to anyone, they will act without hesitation."

Lightning flashed outside and thunder rumbled shortly afterward to accentuate her point, as Yuuno began to berate himself for the situation he was in; but like everything else, he knew it was his own stupid fault.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

So yeah, talk about really having someone by the balls.... Fate's confrontation with Yuuno will happen next chapter, so look for sparks to fly!


	8. Fight or Flight

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 8: Fight or Flight**

Xx~~*~~xX

Lightning flashed outside the window again, with thunder following it nearly instantly, as Arla advanced on him and Yuuno took a hesitant step back in response. Once again he was wondering whether this was such a good idea; if they put that on him, there was no telling if they'd ever take it off, or keep their word.

"Feeling like backing out of the deal already?" Arla told him, amused. "At the very least, we'll find out whether you are telling the truth about the Procreat, and whether we can re-obtain it."

Powerful hands grabbed his arms and shoulders, preventing from moving as Arla moved closer. He swallowed and steadied himself, reminding him that this was for Nanoha, and he just had to hope that he'd have an opportunity to enact his newly formed plan to help her; he had come this far, and he wasn't going to fail now.

Lightning flashed again, lighting up all the windows with it's intensity, and there was a crash outside, followed by urgent shouts and screams. All the women in the room froze, looking at each other in confusion, but then all their gazes were drawn to the door when it flew open.

"There's been a lightning strike in the village," the woman in the doorway told them urgently. "It destroyed Jaina's house, and started a fire! We're trying to contain it now."

"Baysh, Friel, Lorna, go assist," Arla commanded. "We'll put this on hold for now."

Three of the women left, leaving two in the room other than Arla, but another bright flare from outside signaled another strike, causing them all to glance upward as thunder rolled and died down. After the third one, Yuuno realized something was going on; this didn't feel like a normal thunderstorm, and by the looks on the other women's faces, they seemed to be coming to the same conclusion as well.

And then the wall exploded.

x~~*~~x

Fate finished her spell, forming the thunderclouds to begin the storm. She needed a good distraction, and this spell would do it; or at least she hoped so. If she didn't move fast enough, or if the women inside were stronger than she realized, then it would be all for naught; but she wasn't going to come all this way just to fail now.

She waited until the third bolt struck. Since the spell was largely automatic, lightning would continue to rain down for awhile, and she could focus on her next task. Changing Bardiche to Zanbar form, she held up her hand and gathered lightning energy into it, releasing a smaller Plasma Smasher to blow a hole in the log wall; she quickly flew in through the dust and debris immediately after, slamming into a surprised and unprepared Arla with the flat of the blade and knocking her against the wall.

Yuuno was wide-eyed as he started at her, and she felt a sense of grim satisfaction; he obviously didn't expect Fate could find him, but he was wrong. Still, he took the hint in her eyes, diving out of the way as she attacked the two women behind him who had begun spells of their own. One charged in with twin swords, while the other formed a large ice lance in her hand and tossed it at Fate.

The Bureau Agent swatted the first away and blocked the spike with a Round Shield, then quickly laid the caster out. As she turned to look for Yuuno, she saw him struggling on top of Arla, only to be knocked away as the angry woman rose up and locked eyes on Fate.

"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded, a dark purple belkan triangle flaring underneath her feet. "You dare attack those you would call sisters? You are not fit to live among us!"

"I've actually come here for that man," Fate told her, gesturing towards Yuuno, who was using a wall for support to pick himself up. "Allow me to take him, and there won't be anymore trouble."

"I can't allow that," Arla replied evenly, her hands glowing with purple energy. "No one leaves here with knowledge of the village. And especially not by attacking and defying the leader of the tribe."

Fate bared her teeth, realizing that Arla was stalling until her two guards returned to their feet, which they were slowly doing. She couldn't grab Yuuno while Arla was up, and she couldn't allow the woman to delay anymore, so she charged in with a shout; but despite Arla's primitive nature, she was fairly skilled. Her glowing hands deflected Bardiche while twisting her body around in closer to strike. Only Fate's speed got her out of range as she rebounded and came in again.

This time, Fate formed several photon lancer shots behind her opponent, and after separating from their second clash, fired them. The leader of the female tribe took several shots her back, while Fate wound up and fired several more from the other direction; when the dust settled, Arla fell to the floor.

Panting mildly, she turned to get Yuuno. "Now let's get you out of... Yuuno?"

She cursed, as he was nowhere to be found; the bastard had run again! She contemplated all the things she would do to him once she finally got her hands on him, as she flew out the hole in the wall to the lightning-filled night. Several homes were ablaze now, and various women intermixed with a few male slaves ran around trying to extinguish them, but they lit up the night enough for her to find her target when she floated up. He seemed to be running towards the prisoner cave, but why?

Fate dove through the air, arriving at the cave mouth entrance a few moments after Yuuno entered it. [All I've gone through to find this guy, and yet he still manages to make things more difficult!] She felt her ire rise a few degrees as she came out of the short tunnel to a small ledge, where Yuuno had begun to manipulate some levers.

She grabbed his shoulder. "Alright, enough, it's time to get out of here!"

To her surprise, he turned to her and seemed to agree. "I will, but just a moment. I made a promise to free the other prisoners here. Please help me get them out, too!"

She looked up as the three hanging cages descended along the line, debating within herself about how much time she had until people discovered what had happened in Arla's home, then sighed. "Alright, but make it fast."

Yuuno nodded and returned to the cages as they all reached the bottom, but only one had a person in it. "Mallory, we're gonna get you out of there. Where's the other guy?"

The man in the hanging cage shook his head. "Yuuno! I don't know how you managed to do it, but I'm grateful! They took Treg not too long ago, but I wouldn't bother going to look for him. He's dead."

Yuuno sighed. "Damn, I was too late. Fate, could you get the lock?"

She wondered why he didn't, but declined to push the point, smashing it easily to free the man. "My distraction won't last too much longer, so let's get out of here."

"I agree," Yuuno added as the three turned.

But a new obstacle in their path stopped them, in the form of a young woman with a flaming sword in her hands and tears in her eyes, her voice quivering as she spoke. "Somehow... I just _knew_ it would be you! But why!? Why would you do this? We would have been sisters!"

"Frey!" Fate gasped in surprise, then thought she understood the young woman's predicament. "I'm sorry, but I have an important mission to complete. I'll knock you out so they can't blame you for this."

"It's too late for that!" she nearly shouted, despair evident in her voice. "You should have killed me that first time; I should have made you! But you took that choice from me. And then I brought you into the tribe! I must bear the punishment for that. It will mean my death in the morning, so at least give me an honorable one now. I want to die as I have lived; as a warrior! You owe me that much!"

"What are we waiting for?" Mallory questioned with a frown, his tone suggesting he didn't see the problem. "She's one of them; let's just kill her and go!"

"Mallory!" Yuuno barked, hushing the confused man.

Fate's hands shook at the two decisions before her: either kill the girl now by her own hands, an act that she was loathe to do, or just knock her out. In that latter case, she'd be as good as damning the girl to death herself, and if she tried to take her with them... she glanced at Yuuno out of the corner of her eye and thought quickly.

Coming a rapid decision, she turned to him. "Promise me you won't run anymore. I have important things to tell you."

His eyes widened a bit, and she realized he was putting two and two together; then he sighed and nodded. "I promise."

Fate decided to take that and turned back to the young warrior teenager; Yuuno had never broken his word before. "Frey, there's a third option: come with us. There is a whole world out there, and you can find a better life for yourself. You don't have to die here!"

"You want me to leave!?" she remarked in disbelief. "I... I've never gone too far from my home before... and this IS my home! I couldn't leave my sisters!"

Fate lowered Bardiche, canceling Zanbar form and returning it to the back of her hand. "Please, Frey, these same sisters are going to kill you tomorrow. But you can live, with us. I am part of an organization and they are always on the lookout for skilled warriors like yourself. I know you'd fit in well there!" She held out her hands and took a step forward. "Please."

Frey took a step backward, her flaming sword wavering, but then it came back up. "N-no, I can't... I won't dishonor them... I couldn't, as a warrior... I must die to prove myself!"

"We don't have time for this!" Mallory growled, speaking up again. "Just knock her out and be done with it! Take her if you must!"

Fate saw the guy step forward a bit from the corner of her eyes, disliking his attitude but knowing he was also right; she didn't know why Yuuno had come back for this annoying man, but she added that to the mental list of reasons to smack the wayward archeologist around for later. Then she turned back to Frey, twin streaks of water flowing down her cheeks; the young woman was clearly conflicted and afraid of the choices before her.

[She's too young for this,] Fate realized sadly, sending a mental command to Bardiche, which activated Sonic Move.

Frey's eyes widened in surprise as Fate seemingly disappeared in a yellow flash, then appeared behind her and struck her on the back of the head with a magic-charged fist. Fate caught the girl as Frey collapsed and the magic sword winked out of existence, then the agent looked up and nodded to the other two as they started down the tunnel.

"Yuuno, you'll have to carry Mallory, and I'll carry Frey," Fate told him. "We'll escape by air, as there is no way we can outrun them on the ground. I'm betting there's not many of them, if any, who can fly."

"Um, about that," Yuuno told her, causing her to slow with him, as he pointed at his neck. "This collar is preventing me from using magic. Can you get it off?"

She sighed and set Frey down, bringing out Bardiche and activating Haken form. "Alright, hold still. I have to adjust the magic strike to only affect inorganic objects."

He did as instructed while she swung, the collar splitting evenly and falling to the ground, then Fate picked the unconscious Frey up again. "Can we go now?"

"Hold onto me, Mallory, it could get rough," Yuuno told he other man, who obliged.

Fate took off with Frey first, heading up into the sky as soon as she cleared the tunnel exit, but she glanced back to make sure to check that Yuuno was following her; he wasn't as fast as she was in the air. But she also noted that they had been seen, as several magical shots were fired, but between Yuuno's shields and Fate's speed, those weren't much of a concern.

Apparently, either the village really didn't have anybody who could fly, or they couldn't spare anyone to go after them, as there was no sign of aerial pursuit. Just to be safe, though, they stayed in the air for almost an hour to gain some distance, changing directions a few times. Despite however well the villagers knew these woods, Fate felt confident they couldn't be tracked through the air.

"We should be safe enough up here for the night," Yuuno told them, directing her to a ledge he had used before.

There was a small cave in the cliff face, mostly inaccessible unless one could fly or repelled down from above, which made it perfect for a safe camp site; Yuuno had initially used it to gain a respite from any jungle creatures on the trek in, so they set up a small camp with Fate's few supplies.

Frey regained consciousness while Yuuno started a small fire, but despite an initial outburst when she realized where she was, she seemed to sulk in silence; it was as if the life had gone out of her. Fate decided to leave it for now; she could better deal with Frey once she got her and Yuuno back to Mid-Childa. With that aside, she wanted to talk to him, but considering the personal nature of it, she decided to wait until later. He probably realized that as well, which dampened his mood and turned him mostly silent, too.

That left the only real talkative one as Mallory. Fate didn't know quite what to make of him, but he seemed decent, if a bit hostile to Frey, openly declaring that they couldn't trust her. Yuuno talked him down before Fate could, and from there he agreed to let the issue go, cheering up about being free and being anxious and very eager to see his sister again.

Conversation drifted off and then they turned in for the night, but Fate was awakened during the night by Bardiche. She had set him to wake her if either Frey or Mallory got up and moved around; she didn't want to risk one or the other doing something. It turned out to be Frey, who walked out of the cave to the cliff ledge, looking at the jungle below.

[She couldn't possibly be...] Fate's thoughts began, then she stood up and walked up behind her, making just enough noise so the girl knew she was there, stopping several feet away to not threaten her.

"Don't try to stop me," Frey told her sternly. "You robbed me of the chance twice; don't do it again!"

"So you're just going to leap to your death, then?" Fate inquired, wondering how to talk the girl out of it; she couldn't keep subduing her over and over, could she?

"I didn't want this!" Frey cried at her a bit louder, voice cracking slightly. "You violated my life, twice, against my will! You should have just killed me after what you did; not leave me alive like this!"

"What good will your death serve?" Fate asked, troubled by how much pain she had caused the girl in her single-minded pursuit to get Yuuno back. [She's in such pain... Was I wrong to do what I did?] "Yes, I'm sorry for what I did to you, but I can't believe your death is the only possible outcome here, not when you can find a new life for yourself. I once thought I couldn't live, either; I wanted to die, but a friend was there for me and showed me I could find a new life."

"Don't speak to me of yourself!" Frey seethed, finally turning around to face her, but keeping her feet on the edge. "I've doomed my entire village! Now everyone will know about them, and they won't stay hidden for much longer. One of those men will tell people, and it will be all over. Can you imagine what it's like to be responsible for destroying your own friends, family, and home? You can't! All I wanted, all we wanted, was just to live and be left alone to our way of life. You destroyed that!"

"Your village won't be destroyed," Yuuno said softly, surprising Fate as she didn't realize he was awake and listening. "The Time-Space Administration Bureau might intervene to stop the kidnappings, but I promise they'll find a way for your village to continue it's way of life. They aren't interested in seeing civilizations destroyed."

Frey spat. "How can I trust the word of a mere male? You have every reason to detest us! And what about him? Unless you plan to kill him right now, he would tell the villages around here, who would mass against us long before you could do anything!"

Fate glanced farther back in the cave along with Yuuno, seeing Mallory sitting up, watching them. Frey did bring up a good point; if Mallory spread the words as his attitude suggested he might, there might very well be a civil war. She wasn't sure she could get Bureau help in time, and this was an unadministered world; technically the Bureau had no standing to intervene.

Mallory rose to his feet and walked over to stand next to Fate, who barely read he expression on his scraggly-bearded face. "I won't tell anyone."

Frey spat again. "Another word from a male. And one who has openly stated their hate for my people."

A big of anger appeared on his face. "Yes, I may be a mere male to you, and hate what your people did to me, and feel anger and resentment because of it. But really, I just want to go home to my sister; she's the only family I have left. And you're stupid if you think your death is gonna solve anything! You're in a position now to save your village, and you want to take the easy way out? Give up and surrender?" He stepped out in front of Fate and out his hand. "Come on, you know you don't want to do this."

"I..." Frey started to say, then stopped, trembling, staring at the hand. "I can't..."

And then, whether deliberately or just subconsciously, she took a step back.

The other three sprinted forward as they watched the distraught girl begin to fall backwards, horror on her face. Mallory, being ahead of the other two, surprised Fate with his quickness as he reached her first, diving to the ground and grabbing her right ankle as he slid of the rocky shelf. His other hand grabbed the edge, temporarily suspending both of their falls and causing him to cry out in pain.

Then Fate and Yuuno were floating there, grabbing each person and bringing them back up, Frey quivering in Fate's arms, seemingly troubled more by the scare of falling than anything else. Tears were still running down her face, but she dried her eyes as she slowly recovered from her shock and looked up at Mallory with a strange expression.

"W-why?" was all she managed to say.

"I just think that killin' yourself is the wrong way to go about things," he told her as Yuuno worked on healing his cut hand. "You can't do anything when you're dead. But if you're alive, you can help people. Many times I thought of killing myself back there, but stayed alive because my sister would never forgive me if I took the coward's way out.

He paused and shrugged. "And I'd just like the abductions to stop; if Yuuno here says his Bureau can help work things out between our peoples, I'm willing to go for it. I'd rather us not be enemies. You being alive can help ensure that both our villages are protected."

Frey's gaze dropped momentarily, then she stood up and Fate thought she could see some of the pride return. "I... will do as you say, then, but for my sisters. I suppose it is how I can best serve them."

Mallory nodded, a hint of a smile on his bearded lips, as Frey returned to her blanket in the cave. Fate's eyes met Yuuno's, and he smiled slightly at her as well, then nodded. The disaster had been averted, but there was still much work to do

The group returned to the starport after a couple of days, collecting an ecstatic Quinn on the way, who apologized to Yuuno for her actions and thanked him for reuniting him with her brother. Fate arranged for all of them to take a civilian transport ship to the closest administered world, where Quinn, Mallory, and Frey would be dropped off in Bureau custody; there was a lot of work to be done, but the three felt confident they were up to it.

Fate would have liked to stay and continue to help, but she had a more important and personal task to complete...

x~~*~~x

"What the-!?" Yuuno exclaimed, surprised as he found himself in a powerful lightning bind after following Fate into an empty office room to hear something important she had to tell him. "Fate? Why-"

His words were cut off as Fate removed the glove on her hand and slapped him hard, leaving his left cheek stinging. His gaze came back to her angry face, hands on her hips, and he suddenly felt like breaking the bind wouldn't be a very good thing to do right now.

"That's for running," she informed him pointedly, rearing up her hand to backhand his left cheek, leaving it equally red. "That's for making it so difficult to find you! Do you have any idea what Nanoha's been through!?"

Yuuno's gaze lowered; the words stung somehow, more than he thought they would. "I'm sorry. I know I hurt Nanoha by what I did, and I figured it would hurt her more to have me around. I'd just be a living reminder of what she was forced to go through."

Another slap to his right cheek make it burn, as Fate's angry eyes continued to bore into him. "Don't you think that was her choice to make? Did you really think it was okay to unilaterally decide something like this on your own?"

And there it was, the sinking feeling in his gut responding to the buried fears coming to the surface. Part of him knew he was a coward for what he did, but he had tried to bury it under layers of rationalization, telling himself it was to find some way to make her better, or atone for what happened. But the facts were laid bare; Yuuno was a man of science above all, and couldn't hide from the truth when it was presented to his face.

"I know, I screwed up," he admitted softly, his head hanging and eyes leaking as he felt the full force of guilt weigh down upon him. "In more ways than one. And there's probably nothing I can do to make amends for it. I just want her to be alright!"

He almost wouldn't have noticed the binds dissolving, except that he dropped to his knees when they no longer supported him. But what surprised him a bit more, was the pair of hands on his shoulders, as he looked up into Fate's face, now looking considerably more gentle.

"Just talk to her, and we'll work out something," Fate told him earnestly. "She's not angry or upset at you, but more than that, is not my place to tell. That will be between the two of you."

Yuuno nodded, taking her hand to be helped up. His other hand absently brushed the object in his left pocket and he debated bringing it up, but then decided against it. It would be between him and Nanoha, as Fate had said..

"Now let's go catch the next teleport," she told him, giving him a small, fond smile as she pulled him to the door. "We should get there later tonight."

x~~*~~x

Nanoha sighed as she looked out her window from her bedroom at the starry sky. She had managed to get administrative leave canceled so she could return to some semblance of work, but she was still upset at the restrictions; Vita made sure she stuck to them as well. No active combat except against lower ranks, and observe training exercises while seated; she felt like she was being treated like a baby.

That thought made her hand go to her stomach for the thousandth time. It had been several weeks since then, and sometimes she felt things inside, but logically she knew she shouldn't; the baby was nowhere near that far along yet. The thought of the whole pregnancy and birth process gave her some measure of fear, but there was an odd comfort in that, too, though she didn't know why. Still, at least this way, Vivio would have a younger sister or brother to play with, so maybe it things would work out for the best, anyway.

Now if she could only get these anxieties and uneasiness out of her head....

There came a gentle knocking at her door, and Nanoha told her to come in, thinking it was Vivio being awoken for some reason, but she was surprised to find it was Fate's voice that responded. Opening the door revealed another surprise, as she glimpsed a downtrodden looking Yuuno behind her.

All at once, those pent up aversions and fears came rushing back to the fore as she felt her body tremble, her shaky hand on the doorknob. [Why!? I thought I dealt with all of this? It's just Yuuno! Why do I fear for my control?]

"Nanoha, are you okay?" Fate asked with concern in her voice, then sent a telepathic message. "[I can tell him to wait downstairs if you need some time...]"

Nanoha took a deep breath. "[No, I shouldn't delay this any longer. And thanks, Fate-chan.]"

Fate nodded as Nanoha stepped back, and Fate almost pushed him in. "You two talk. I'll bring up some tea in a bit, alright?"

They both thanked her as Fate smiled and closed the door, and for awhile, awkward silence dampened the room; all the things Nanoha wanted to say were suddenly gone from her mind, and she wasn't even sure where to begin in the first place. From Yuuno's downcast look, she realized he must have felt the same, as he could barely meet her gaze.

"Welcome back, Yuuno," she stated at last, infusing it with as much warmth as she could, deciding that was as good a place as any to start. "And... I'm sorry."

"No no, I should be the one apologizing!" he insisted, then his head dropped slightly again. "It was because of me, that you had to go through... that. I should have had taken more precautions with those devices and... I also left you like that. Fate told me that you weren't angry or upset, but I must admit it's kinda hard to believe that. You must dislike me at least a little."

She could feel the guilt dripping form his words, and somehow it moved her to hug him. "No, it's okay. While I was scared and anxious at first, I've already forgiven you for what happened. I just want to know how you feel."

Hesitantly, his arms came up to hug her back. "I'm sorry. I tried to think of you first, wanting you to be happy, but I know now that I wasn't thinking of you as much as I should have. My actions have hurt you a lot."

She felt him pull back a bit, as one arm dropped. "No, it's okay, really. Although sometimes I wish things could be undone, I can... what's that?"

Yuuno had pulled a small, black rectangular box-like object out of his pocket, his gaze turning serious, while his face became full of concern. "There is a way..."

x~~*~~x

Fate climbed back up the stairs, having prepared the tea set properly; it was one of the many things she had learned with her time in Japan. She felt she had given the two some time to break the ice, but if not, well, tea always helped the two relax before. The three of them had shared it a number of times over the years in the times they spent together.

And now that Yuuno was back, things could finally start to resume some sense of normalcy. There would be changes, but she felt that all those could be dealt with easily enough. Probably more counseling for Nanoha, and perhaps Yuuno, too, as they figured out what kind of relationship to go with.

She turned the corner to the hallway, slowly approaching Nanoha's bedroom when a bright flash of white light flared briefly from under the closed door. Concerned, she quickly crossed the remaining distance and threw it open, catching Yuuno lowering a black object from Nanoha's forehead

"Yuuno?" Fate questioned. "What is that? What did you do?"

"I..." He glanced at Nanoha, then his face hardened. "I've made sure Nanoha can live normally now."

Fate put the tea set down on the desk as she crossed the floor, separating the two looking at Nanoha's non-responsive blank eyes, then turned to grab Yuuno. "What did you do!?"

"She's okay!" Yuuno insisted, gesturing.

Fate turned back, releasing Yuuno as she noticed Nanoha's eyes return to normal. "Nanoha, are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Nanoha replied a bit confused, earning a sigh from Fate, then looked back and forth between the two other people. "But what is going on? And who are you?"

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

The chapter title was was to address numerous people's responses to things they choose to confront or run from, which are the two choices we face with any conflict, internal or external. We don't always make the best choices, and sometimes we screw up badly. Anyway, tune in for the next chapter... which I'm not quite sure what to call... or know when I'll get it out... :x


	9. Sadness

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 9: Sadness**

Xx~~*~~xX

Fate's disbelieving eyes stared back and forth, between Nanoha's confused face and Yuuno's deer-in-the-headlights look, then she took several long steps across the room to grab Yuuno's shirt in both hands and yank him close.

"What did you DO!?" Fate nearly snarled into his face.

Yuuno held up his hands in self-defense, but made no moves to fight her off. "You don't understand! I..." His voice trailed off as he spared a glance at the wondering Nanoha, then some of Fate's anger gave way to curiosity when his head dropped. "No, I did it; I erased her memories of the incident. The rest should come back in time, but I've made it so she can live without those horrible thoughts."

Fate suddenly remembered the object in his hand, and reached down to grab it. "This is what you used? Fix her. Give her back everything; this isn't right, and you know it!"

"I can't!" Yuuno protested, and despite her anger, she could detect a note of sincerity in his voice. "At least, I'm not sure how. The device was only meant to erase memories; I don't think it can work in reverse!"

"I'm sorry, but is there some problem here?" Nanoha asked, more curious than upset, causing the pair to turn to her and Fate to release Yuuno. "I'm not sure who you two are, but would you mind explaining why you're here?"

"You don't remember us right now, Nanoha," Fate told her in what she hoped was a soothing voice. "But we're friends of yours."

"I am supposed to know you?" the amnesiac woman questioned, doubtful, then shook her head. "You almost seem a bit... familiar, but..."

Fate exhaled in frustration. "I'm Fate Testarossa Harlaown, and this is Yuuno Scrya. And even if you don't remember us right now, I need you to trust that we do all know each other." She paused, looking for something... then as her eyes settled on it, she took several steps over to the nightstand to pick up the picture frame and display it to her. "See? That's you, me, Yuuno, and Vivio, your adopted daughter. Remember her?"

Nanoha's brow furrowed as she concentrated on the picture. "Almost... I think..." She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples, as if in a bit of discomfort. "No, I don't really remember...."

Fate sighed as she put the picture down, then crossed over to take the other woman's hands. "You'll just have to trust me for now. I'm going to take you some place where we can hopefully get your temporary amnesia fixed, alright?"

Nanoha bit her lip, searching the other woman's face, then finally nodded. "O-okay."

To Fate's relief, the other woman allowed herself to be pulled to the door, but she paused before exiting the room. "Yuuno, you too! You're not leaving my side until I tell you to; I'll break your legs to keep you around if I have to. Understood?"

Yuuno's nervous look dictated that he had caught her slightly threatening tone, and he hurried after them. "Y-yes."

x~~*~~x

"I won't blame you if you hate me," Yuuno told the other woman, as he looked through the glass window. "You couldn't hate me more than I hate myself."

Fate grimaced slightly, but didn't turn to look at him, instead focusing on Shamal checking Nanoha in the room on the other side of the glass window. "I don't hate you. I don't like what you did, but you know you screwed up. I wouldn't be much of a friend if I hung you out to dry. I..." She trailed off in response to Shamal exiting the room, closing the door behind her softly. "Well, how is she?"

"Physically, she's fine," Shamal answered predictably. "As for her amnesia, I can't say. Nothing I tried worked; it looks like the neurons in her brain that formed pathways for memories, have disconnected themselves. Some look to be reforming, but I'm not so sure about others."

"What do you mean?" Fate asked, sparing a glance at the woman in the room, sitting the bed and looking around curiously. "Does that mean she'll regain her memory?"

"I can't say," Shamal admitted, sighing. "There are some other tests that can be run, but I'd guess that it should return in time. Most amnesiac victims do eventually remember, though I don't know how that lost logia affects the situation. All I can suggest is to expose her to familiar locations and faces as they should help jog her memory, but be patient; it probably won't all come back at once."

"So she won't remember everything?" Yuuno inquired, studying Nanoha.

"I'm sorry, I really can't say," Shamal answered. "But the main thing I'm worried about, is that she doesn't remember that she's pregnant."

Yuuno looked up, blood draining from his face. "Pregnant?"

Shamal eyed Fate. "You didn't tell him?"

The gold-haired woman shook her head, a bit flustered. "I was going to let Nanoha share that, but I guess they didn't get around to it." She shot Yuuno a dark look, and he quickly turned away, his head dropping.

"Well, she'll need to be told soon, but it can wait a few days," Shamal answered. "Hopefully, she'll get enough of her memory back before then, but if not, she'll need to be told. Normally I'd contact the family in cases like this, but I'm trying to keep this a bit confidential for now, considering the situation." She glanced at her watch. "I'll run a couple more tests, then release her to your custody for now."

"Thanks, Shamal," Fate offered, as the doctor smiled and re-entered the room, then turned and caught Yuuno saying something under his breath.

"Why didn't she tell me?" he mumbled, still staring.

"Perhaps because you didn't give her a chance," Fate admonished him.

Yuuno started as he turned to her, his face shifting emotions almost too quickly. "Yes, of course, you're right." He sighed. "I guess I have work to do."

She raised an eyebrow. "You know what you have to do, then?"

He nodded solemnly, staring down at the floor. "Yes. There has to be more information on the memory-removing lost logia in the library. Some way of reversing it. I have to... undo the damage I caused... somehow." His head came back up, and Fate was struck by the fierce determination there. "Somehow, I'll find a way; I won't leave the library until I do. But I won't do anything alone this time; I'll check with you before I take any action, alright?"

Fate allowed a small smile to show as she nodded in return; he was learning. "Alright."

But as Shamal brought Nanoha out, something else bothered Fate in the back of her mind, her detective skills tingling, for lack of a better term; as if there was an image at to the side, in her peripheral vision that she couldn't quite see, even if she turned her head.

What was it?

x~~*~~x

"No, not this one, either!" came Yuuno's exasperated declaration, as he tossed the book across the room. "There has to be something in here... All this knowledge, useless!"

He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he floated in the zero-G Infinity Library.

_His hand hovered in mid-air, hesitant, but his eyes locked with hers and told him all he needed to know._

_"Yuuno..." her soft and comforting voice called, conveying so much with so little._

"Yuuno?" Arf called, snapping him out of his reverie. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, but inwardly, the same question that had been hounding him for a week, came unbidden once more. [Why? Why didn't she tell me?]

She crossed her arms under her chest and eyed him. "No, you're not. You've been hardly sleeping this past week." She smiled ruefully. "I should know; I've had to drag you to the cot almost every night when I find you passed out. If I wasn't around, I doubt you'd eat, either."

"You don't have to be here," Yuuno told her, reaching up to take another book. "I'll survive."

"You're a lot of work, but I have to admit I haven't seen you this... possessed," Arf told him, an edge of worry in her voice. "You sometimes get into a subject and lose track of everything else, but nothing like this."

"It's just how I am," Yuuno told her, becoming more annoyed. "Now let me get back to work!"

Arf sighed, then smiled mysteriously. "Well, I'd love to, but I can't let you right now. We have a couple of visitors who want to see you."

Yuuno wasn't in the mood, however. "Tell them to come back later, I have important work to do."

True to her word, though, she wasn't about to let him as she grabbed his arm and pulled him down to the library entrance. "Can't. This is partly for your own good, too. You've been cooped up in here too long. You've always been a bookworm, but this is overdoing it, even for you!"

Yuuno groaned and let himself be pulled along, as he couldn't match her physical strength, even when fully rested and fed. He took some comfort that his search algorithms were still working, so he could simply look at any books they pulled out after he dismissed these visitors. He had already told Chrono, Verossa, and quite a few others that he was unavailable to help with research for the moment; whoever else wanted something would simply have to wait.

But he was in for a bit of a surprise at who awaited him.

"Hello, Yuuno-kun!"

Yuuno's mouth gaped open. "Nanoha!? You remember me?"

Her brilliant smile dimmed somewhat, as she regretfully shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, but Fate-chan has been telling me all about you, and showing me so many pictures and videos. It's obvious we were really close and knew each other a long time."

It was only then that he noticed slightly smiling Fate behind her, whom he spared a surprised glance at, before returning to Nanoha. "Um, yeah, I suppose we were, kinda."

"I'll let you two talk for a bit," Fate said, moving over to her familiar. "But not for too long. We have an appointment back at Shamal's place in an hour, Nanoha."

"I know!" she replied brightly, as Fate and Arf moved off.

Yuuno spared a glance at Fate, but she simply winked before turning away and floating up into the library. His gaze returned to Nanoha, but he couldn't quite meet her face; he hadn't seen her in nearly a week, mostly because he was consumed with his new mission, but the other reason became clear as she stood here now.

He didn't know what to say to her.

[What do you say to the girl you raped physically, and then mind-wiped?] the dark and rueful rhetorical question came unbidden to his mind. What once was a welcome sight, now brought him shame and guilt.

But she spoke up first anyway, her own head lowering a bit, her hands playing with her skirt. "I know."

That got his attention, a numbing cold flash shooting through his body. "Know?"

Nanoha's head dropped a bit more. "That I'm pregnant, and you're the father. So even though I can't remember you, we must have been in love. Fate-chan told me all about you, and you seem like a really good guy, so I can see why I must have fallen for you. Speaking of Fate, I remember her a bit now, but not much; just flashes of us fighting or something, and then becoming friends."

Each word seemed to drive a spike farther into his gut. "Nanoha, I-"

Her head came up with the bright smile again as she continued, interrupting him. "We aren't married, apparently, and Fate-chan said that was up to us, so I thought we could talk a bit about it. I'm a bit scared, and I know this must be hurting you, that I don't remember... us. But I'll try to be a good mother to the baby, okay? And I'll try my best to remember you, or get to know you all over again, if I have to. I'll try to make this work, somehow. I-"

"Stop!" Yuuno nearly shouted, punctuating the word by grabbing her shoulders, his head lowered to hide the wetness forming in his eyes. Somehow, this hurt more than anything else that came before.

"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha inquired, seemingly more curious than startled. "I'm sorry if this too abrupt or forward of me. I had considered the possibility we weren't actually together, and that it was a moment of passion or something, but I must have wanted it as much as-"

"No," Yuuno told. [I only raped you,] his mind added, but he shook his head. His mouth opened and closed several times, but no more words came out. [How can I tell her? Fate obviously hasn't, so why? She needs to know, so she knows why we can't be together. I have to tell her.... somehow.]

He wiped his eyes on his sleeves, then looked up at her, seeing her bemused expression studying him. "It was... something like that. A night of passion."

_Coward._

"I see," Nanoha replied, her enthusiasm dropping somewhat. "Had we discussed what to do about the baby yet? Whether to keep it... or..."

By some unknown impulse, Yuuno hugged her, mostly to avoid looking into her face. He wanted to, oh how many times he dreamed of just gazing into her deep-blue eyes, and seeing love mirrored there. And now that dream was shattered, gone, and a child would have to pay the price; at least, it would, unless he made sure it didn't.

"It's up to you, but..." he spoke softly over her shoulder. "But I wouldn't mind keeping it. I'll do my best to be a good father to him. Or her. I won't ask anything else of you, just let me provide for both of you. I'll make sure nothing bad happens to either of you."

He felt her arms hug him back, finally. "Good, I wanted to keep it. Somehow, I couldn't see myself getting rid of it. And even if we weren't that close, you seem like a good guy overall, so I wouldn't mind having you in my life. I would like to get to know the father of my child!"

Yuuno pulled back and finally forced himself to look into her eyes, seeing only warmth there, if a bit of nervousness. It was accompanied by a tender smile, that used to bring him such joy... and now only tore him apart.

"I'd... like that," Yuuno replied, his lips turning up into a smile that reached no deeper than his face.

"Alright, I..." she started to say, then paused and glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, Fate-chan!"

"We need to head back in a few, Nanoha," Fate replied, as Yuuno turned to see her and Arf descend and land in the doorway. "You two can talk more later, if you like, though. Everything okay?"

"Yes," Nanoha replied, smiling. "I think so. It looks like I need to get to know the father of my child, haha!"

Fate chuckled, while Yuuno just adjusted the collar of his shirt and glanced down.

"Arf, would you take Nanoha to the teleporter?" Fate asked. "I need to talk to Yuuno alone for a bit."

"Sure!" the familiar answered, heading into the corridor with the other woman.

Nanoha paused to turn and wave. "Bye, Yuuno-kun, talk to you later!"

Yuuno just waved back, as Nanoha and Arf disappeared around the corner; somehow the weight on his shoulders seeming that much heavier. He felt Fate come up beside him, but despite her earlier words, she didn't speak, yet the silence only made him feel that much worse.

"Why?" Yuuno asked at last. "Why didn't you tell her?"

"Does she really need to know?" Fate shot back. "That was your original plan, was it not?"

Yuuno laughed, once. "Yeah. My plan."

"She is happier like this," Fate noted, crossing her arms across her chest. "She could remember eventually, of course, but I'm not sure she will."

He turned to her, surprised. "What makes you say that?"

She shrugged. "She's remembered a decent amount, bits and pieces here and there. She knows me a little, but seemingly remembers people like Vita and Shamal more. It seems the farther we get away from the jewel seed incident, the more she begins to recall. But there are a couple of noticeable gaps: she doesn't remember you at all, and she doesn't remember her magic."

"Me, I can understand; but why not her magic?" Yuuno questioned, not understanding.

"I'm not entirely sure, either, but you were the one to introduce her to it and you taught her all the basics, as well as helped her refine some of her higher level spells," Fate suggested. "Shamal thinks that her memories of magic are closely tied with her thoughts of you as a result. So if she doesn't remember you..."

"Then she won't remember how to perform magic," Yuuno finished after Fate trailed off, his gaze lowering to the floor. "Which explains why you brought her here to see me. You need me to help her get her magic back."

"She's vulnerable, Yuuno," Fate told him, her voice hardening. "She hasn't befriended everyone over the years, and any one of them might leap at the chance to do something if they knew she couldn't defend herself."

Yuuno's shoulders sagged. "I thought as much. Don't worry, I'll try to help her get her magic back, as well as her memories. And once that's done, I'll get out of both of your lives."

He didn't see the slap coming, but he definitely felt the burning sting on his cheek afterwards; his hand instinctively came up to feel it as he stared at her.

"That's what got us into this mess!" Fate nearly yelled at him, then her voice softened. "I didn't do this just for her magic. I've known how you've felt about her for awhile now. I honestly don't know if she felt anything in response, but I do know you are our friend. How long have we known each other?"

"A long time..." he responded quietly, subdued.

"And we've been friends most of that time," she reminded him, planting her hands on her hips. "More particularly, _you've_ been a great friend. You've done a lot, for both of us, and I'll be damned if I let a single screw-up end things."

"This was a lot more than just a screw-up," Yuuno told her bitterly. "I hurt her, and hurt our friendship. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me for it."

"I know, more than anyone, what it's like to do the wrong thing," Fate explained to him in tender voice that somehow surprised him with the emotion in it. "And yet be saved because someone looked past that, to see the friend I could become. A lesser person would still probably be within their rights to continue to hate, or even take some kind of revenge, but Nanoha showed me that friendship is about reaching past the troubled feelings, no matter the cost. We're all going to screw up, but real friends are there for you even despite that; that's what they do."

He finally looked up to see her rueful, yet tender smile, and he sighed. "But what you did, was because you didn't know any better; you did it because you loved your mother. And Nanoha did most of getting through to you; I didn't do much."

"You trained Nanoha's magic so she could have the strength to oppose me," Fate countered. "And testified on my behalf at my trial. Just like Arf supported me and helped me do what I need to, you supported Nanoha. Neither one of us would be where we were without that support."

He sighed again after a minute, defeated, then nodded. "I suppose. I'll do what I can."

She nodded. "Good, because Nanoha needs both of us right now, and I can't afford to have you wallow in self-pity, and end up doing something we'll both regret. You'll have a chance to make amends, but we'll do it the right way, agreed?"

"Agreed," he replied, exhaling, feeling as if the weight had lessened somewhat. "But I should get back to work now. I still don't want to leave her until I've found a way to reverse it."

"And I have to go take Nanoha to her appointment now, but we'll arrange more visits," she informed him, squeezing his shoulder, then turning and beginning to walk down the hallway the way the previous two had.

Yuuno watched her for a bit. "Fate?"

She paused and turned slightly. "Hmm?"

"Thank you," he told her, grateful; probably the first genuinely good feeling he had felt in a long time.

She flashed him a thumbs up and smiled, then continued moving off. Yuuno shook his head and turned back to the library leaping back up into the zero-G environment.

He had a lot of work to do, but time would reveal he had no idea how much that would involve.

x~~*~~x

"We're back!" Nanoha called, as the two entered through the front door of her home

"Welcome back!" Aina greeted in a quiet voice, entering the foyer from the living room. "I put Vivio to bed about an hour ago, and everything is cleaned up."

"Thank you, Aina," Fate told her in an equally hushed voice, smiling. "You can head home for tonight; thank you for staying and helping."

Aina nodded as she put on her coat. "It's my pleasure, Miss Fate. I enjoy looking after children, and Vivio reminds me a lot of my own daughter at that age."

"We'll see you in a couple of days, then?" Nanoha asked. "Since we'll be spending the day with Vivio tomorrow."

"In a couple of days, then, good night!" the housemaid replied, passing between them and slipping out the door.

"She does a lot for me, doesn't she?" Nanoha asked after the woman was gone and the pair entered the living room. "And somehow, we just seem to take her for granted, and even ignore her at times."

"Aina has been your housemaid for while now, ever since you first got Vivio," Fate reminded her. "Though it is her job, we should do something nice for her, to show her how much we appreciate what she does and... Nanoha?"

Nanoha turned away from Fate, feeling the familiar melancholy rising again. "I... can't even remember my own daughter, and I'm going to have another child. What kind of mother am I?"

Fate sighed and place her hands on the woman's shoulders. "We've been over this; it's not your fault that your memory is gone, but we'll get it back."

Nanoha sighed. "I-"

_"I..." his voice quivered a bit, and she could see the conflict within him. "I just want you to be happy."_

_"It's okay," she soothed. "I understand."_

Nanoha shook her head; where had that come from?

"...said you remembered a bit about Vivio anyway," Fate was saying. "So it will all come back to you in time. I-"

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked when the other woman cut off abruptly, then turned around as Fate's hands left her shoulders. "Fate-chan?"

Fate was staggering back, raising a hand to her neck. "Nnnanohaa..."

Before she could question it, Nanoha felt a prick in her neck, and almost immediately felt a bit unsteady on her feet. "What?"

That was the last word she was able to utter as her legs turned to jelly and she joined Fate on the floor, landing on her back, her face turned to the side. She expected to pass out, but strangely her whole body just felt numb; it was like her arms and legs had all fallen asleep at once.

A few moments later, two mildly unattractive women entered the room, one of which leaned down to look at her.

"Looks like we got one extra, Gikan," she said, studying Nanoha more closely. "Not exactly what we bargained for."

"I don't care, Leethe," Gikan replied, leaning down to grab Fate's chin and twist it upwards to meet her gaze."We got this one, who pretended to be our friend, and then burned our village. Not to mention, taking Frey with her. I'll enjoy taking my revenge out on her, slowly but surely."

"We need her alive!" Leethe reminded the other one. "And in one piece. Once we have the other item we came for, you can do what you want."

Gikan spat. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Speaking of which... Frey, get in here and help us with the bodies! "

A third female entered, a girl much younger than the other two, who seemed much more hesitant for some reason. But that was all she saw as her head was turned and lifted, and collar snapped around her neck by the woman known as Leethe.

"If it's any consolation, you weren't intended to be in on this," she was told. "But if you keep your head, you may just live through this, once we have what we want."

There was never a more urgent moment when Nanoha wished she had her memories.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

You really thought you had seen the last of them, didn't you?^^ And for the astute, you'll notice a few clues scattered about with regards to something else, but that's all I'll say for now.


	10. Pain

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 10: Pain**

Xx~~*~~xX

"Admit it, you didn't really think our people knew about the outside world, or how to track someone outside of it," Gikan sneered, to the steady tune of the knife she was sharpening on a whetstone.

Fate tugged on her magical bonds, but still didn't sense any weakness. "Okay, I admit it. I can understand why you'd want me, but let Nanoha go; she's not involved in this."

"As I told her earlier, she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," Leethe reminded her, not bothering to turn from her lookout on an upper level warehouse window. "But if everything goes according to plan, she'll get out of this alive."

"Who are these people?" Nanoha asked, in a voice much more timid than Fate remembered; had the memory wipe really changed her personality that much? "Am I supposed to know them, too?"

Fate shook her head, cursing the collar that kept her magical abilities suppressed; without it, she could break her ankle and wrist binds and take down both of these women. "No. They were people I... ran into, while I was tracking Yuuno."

Gikan barked a laugh, then shot her a venomous glare. "You mean, when you called up that lightning storm that burned down half the village! Thanks to you, we lost a considerable amount of this year's crop; a lot of our people will die due to lower food reserves. We were a dying race before, and you just sped it up!"

Fate's eyes were steady, as the knife embedded itself in a wooden crate near her head. Giken could have killed her with that toss, but she gathered they needed her alive for reasons they wouldn't disclose; right now, that was the only positive in their corner. She glanced over at Nanoha, feeling regret for getting her involved in this, as it was her single-minded carelessness that brought this situation on them; in that light, she felt she was beginning to feel almost as much guilt as Yuuno.

"I'm sure the Bureau would help you with food, if you asked them," Nanoha offered, showcasing some of the old spirit to Fate's relief.

"We handle our problems ourselves," Leethe informed her, still not looking over. "Outsiders cannot be trusted; we must rely upon ourselves. That's what we were taught, and that's what has kept us alive for 300 years."

Fate sighed, knowing no amount of negotiation would get through to them, but glanced over at their third captor. "And what about you? Why are you here?"

Frey, who had been mostly emotionless throughout all this event, showcased a small amount of surprise, but quickly regained her composure while darting a glance at Gikan. "I'm here because I want to be."

"I thought only death awaited you, if you went back to the tribe?" Fate inquired, feeling there was something more going on between those two, from the way Gikan looked back at Frey.

"Much can be forgiven, if I return triumphantly with the Procreat," Frey answered, then crossed her arms over her chest and turned away, a sign that she didn't wish to speak anymore.

"My daughter is also quite skilled with transformation magic," Gikan explained, a note of pride in her voice, then her eyes twinkled. "Why don't you show them, Frey, why it is we brought you along?"

The revelation of Gikan being Frey's mother was a shock to Fate, but not as much as what happened next. The younger girl turned back, appearing a bit surprised at her mother's request, but sighed and made a few hand signs. Fate's mouth dropped open as Fate morphed into Aina.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Fate; I enjoy looking after children, and Vivio reminds me a lot of my own daughter at that age," Frey said in Aina's voice, then canceled the transformation.

The implication couldn't be clearer.

"What have you done with Vivio and the real Aina?" Fate demanded.

"They are safe," Leethe answered, still glancing out the window. "For the moment, anyway. One can never be too careful about loose ends." She promptly stood up and jumped down. "But enough talk; it's time for action. The mouse has come seeking the cheese."

Fate glanced back and forth between Leethe and Gikan, the latter slowly smiling, wondering what it meant.

x~~*~~x

"[Nanoha?]" Yuuno called mentally as he approached in his car. "[Fate? Can you hear me?]"

He grew disheartened at the lack of reply, and then received a somewhat frightened, "[Yuuno-san?]"

Yuuno blinked in disbelief. "[Vivio? They got you, too? Where are you? Are you with your mamas?]"

"[I'm with Aina-san and we're tied up,]" she sent back, mental voice a bit shaky, but there was an undercurrent of courage there. "[I don't know where my mamas are.]"

The archeologist got out of his car and started walking toward the warehouse. "[Can you see anything else around? Your kidnappers?]"

"[No,]" she replied sadly. "[I'm scared. Are you going to save us?]"

"[Yes, I am, but I might need your help,]" he soothed, pausing in front of the open door. "[Just hang tight for now, and I'll get back to you. You're going to have to be brave; can you do that?]"

"[Y-yes, I think so,]" she sent back.

She was an amazing girl, Yuuno knew. Any other girl might have been too scared to do anything, but Vivio was Nanoha's daughter, and she had done wonders instilling her own couragous values into her child. As he stepped into the darkness, he could only hope he could keep his promise to her; but as yet, he didn't have any kind of plan.

It had started earlier that evening, when he received a text message to come to Nanoha's house. He hated leaving as his research was still ongoing; although he was able to glean a few more details about the Procreat and the mind-wiping lost logia, there was nothing that indicated how to return memories. But Fate's note had indicated it was urgent and to come quickly, however he was in for quite a shock when he arrived. The house was a mess and no one was home, but there was one handwritten note that said to come straight to this warehouse and tell no one, or Fate and Nanoha would die.

He might have dismissed it, but there was a clear picture of the two unconscious, on the floor. And now, apparently, they had Aina and Vivio, too.

"Stop where you are," echoed a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

Yuuno paused, but kept himself calm and his voice steady. "Where are they?"

"They are alive, and will remain that way as long as you do what we say," the voice informed him tacitly. "A couple meters in front of you are a pair of wooden crates. There is a collar on one of them; put it on. I'm sure you recognize it."

Yuuno eyed the darkened warehouse, but he could barely make out any features, even after his vision had adjusted. He had a decent idea of where the voice was coming from and debated teleporting over there to get the drop on her.

"My partner is currently holding a knife to the necks of the women," the voice came again. "You put the collar on in the next 20 seconds, or one the hostages will die."

Yuuno grit his teeth, realizing the odds were against him; even if he teleported to the voice, he had no idea where the girls were. They'd be dead before he could free them. Sighing, he quickly stepped up to the wood crate and found the collar, an object he definitely recognized; he had spent several days wearing one, which meant these people were either those man-hating amazons, or someone attempting to make him think so.

"[Vivio, listen to me,]" Yuuno quickly sent telepathically. "[I'm not going to be able to talk to you telepathically for awhile. But I will save you, Aina, and your mamas, I promise. I'll need your help and I'll let you know what to do when the time comes, okay?]"

As soon as he received her confirmation, he took a breath, then quickly snapped the collar around his neck.

"There, it's on," he called out. "Release the women; I'll be your hostage."

Instead of a reply, a darkened figure appeared on a stack of boxes and jumped down in front of him; Yuuno instantly recognized who it was, as Leethe checked his neck and confirmed it was in place.

"He's got it on, his magic is suppressed," Leethe announced. "We'll be going now."

Yuuno shot her an angry, bewildered scowl. "Wait, going where? I demand to see all the hostages first."

Leethe's glare rivaled his own. "You're in no position to demand anything, male. But we are not without mercy. I will let them talk to you for a moment. Gikan, let them speak!"

"We're okay, Yuuno-kun," Nanoha's voice echoed, a bit of fear in her voice, but it was mostly steady.

"Nanoha and I are here," Fate called out. "But Aina and Vivio are tied up somewhere else. Just do what you have to do; we'll get out of this somehow!"

"Shut up!" came Gikan's voice. "He'll do what we want, or he gets you back in pieces!"

[So they did have four hostages,] Yuuno realized glumly. [How the hell am I going to save all four with no magic?] He realized one thing for sure: he'd have to think of something, because they were counting on him and he had promised Vivio.

"That's enough," Leethe informed him. "You and I are going to go get the Procreat. Once we return here with it, we'll release the women to you. You try anything funny, or if I don't return here within an allotted time, and Gikan will start killing the hostages. I suggest we move."

"Hold on, there's no way I can get that out of the vault!" he protested. "Especially taking you along. There's no way they'd let you near it!"

"You have a point," she agreed, then looked into a darkened corner. "But we prepared for that. Do it now!" Before his eyes, her form slowly shifting into a near-perfect replica of Fate. "This should not arouse suspicion, as you two are friends, are you not?"

Yuuno was disturbed, partly by how much she looked and sounded like Fate; the transformation magic was thorough. But as the two headed back to his car, he was even more disturbed that their plan might actually work.

x~~*~~x

"And that's what Yuuno said to me," Vivio was telling the other woman. "I know he'll save us."

"I see," Aina replied, continuing to work her fingers. "Well, I hope so, but he'll probably still need our help."

They were tied back-to-back, their wrists bound by rope to the steel pole between them. Their ankles were also tied, but Aina wasn't as concerned about those right now; she was just glad that she had let her nails grow out recently, and was slowly cutting away at the bonds, ever since they were tied up here. Already, a few strands had been broken, but it was slow going. The only good news was that they were in a large storage closet, and the door was only partially open, so no one could directly see them unless they stepped in, which they did to check up on the two ever ten minutes or so.

"I know, he said he'd let me know how we could help, even though he couldn't use telepathy anymore for some reason," Vivio replied, a bit sadly. She paused for several moments, then asked, "Aina, why did they take us?"

"I'm not too sure, but they want something," she answered, remembering back to her own kidnapping; she felt stupid, useless, to have failed in her protection of Vivio. She had let Nanoha down again, the same way she had back when Vivio had been kidnapped the first time. "And I think they want Yuuno to get it for them, which is why they kidnapped your mamas, because he cares about them. I think they just took you and I because we were there."

"Well, Yuuno-san is really smart, so I'm sure he'll save us out somehow," the young girl declared confidently. "I visited him at the library several times; he knows a lot of things! Someday, I want to know as much as he does."

Aina felt another couple of strands give way. "That's a very nice goal. I'm sure you'll accomplish it someday."

The housemaid was chagrined to note that Vivio almost seemed to possess less fear than she did about this situation; but then again, Vivio was a strange girl. Still, she kept the conversation going, partly as a way to keep her from thinking too much about this, and partly to cover her actions. Her finger was beginning to feel a bit tired, but she pressed on; years of cooking, sewing, patchwork, gardening, and other housework had really given her fingers a workout.

She just needed a little more time.

x~~*~~x

His companion throughout the car trip had been mostly silent, which had made him a bit more comfortable as it gave him time to think of a plan, but he still couldn't come up with a decent one; most of them ended with one of the girls getting killed. He needed to take both women out of action for at least a few minutes, but he wasn't sure how he could do that without his magic; and they were far stronger than him physically. It made him wish he had taken some strike arts lessons or something.

"You must think us barbarians," Leethe said abruptly, still making him feel unease due to her use of Fate's voice. "For taking your friends hostage like this."

"The thought had crossed my mind," he replied, pulling off the freeway.

"Our kind were already slowly dying," she explained. "Very few of us are capable of childbirth now, and with each passing year, more die than are born. The Procreat was our one hope, and when it was stolen, it was a serious blow to our tribe; it's return can save us. Thus, drastic actions is needed."

"We gave you offers of help once before," he reminded her, pausing at a stoplight.

She eyed him. "Would you allow something precious to be taken from you, to become dependent upon another power not under your control?"

"If the alternative was threatening and hurting people, I just might," he shot back, still not looking at her.

She barked a laugh. "Perhaps you cannot understand, because you are a male. Our history teaches us how men have subjugated women in almost every society. That is why our holy saint gave us the means to protect ourselves, and ensure we would never be slaves again."

"At another time, I might find this fascinating," he told her. "But now all I want is Nanoha and the others back unharmed."

"Then I suggest we hurry to the Procreat," Leethe told him pointedly. "Gikan can be a bit... rough, and is easily bored. The sooner we get back, the less likely she may feel compelled to do something."

Yuuno took the hint and made the rest of the trip in silence, but the beginnings of a plan had begun percolating in his mind, which sorted itself out by the time they arrived; and ironically he had Leethe to thank for it. It required a few things going just right, but based on what he had learned so far, there was every indication it would work. There was just one small detail he had to arrange, but he was confident he could get that much.

The guard post at the gate let them through after they flashed IDs; Yuuno was well-known at this base by now due to his work in the vault and Leethe had Fate's, so they were waved through without much fuss, allowing Yuuno to park near the main building. Part of the vault's security was the fact that very few knew it was even here, so he knew that much was on their side. Still, it was risky; if anyone thought to challenge Leethe more directly, or sense the transformation magic in effect, it would all be over quickly.

Fortunately, most had gone home for the day, so the hallways were mostly empty; all they encountered was the odd enforcer patrol who simply passed them without a word, or late worker they passed, paid them no heed. Also, they wouldn't need to actually go to the vault, but to Yuuno's work area.

"Yuuno!" the guard behind the desk greeted with a smile, standing up. "What brings you here this late at night? Last I heard, you were taking a vacation."

The archeologist smiled. "Hey Charlie! Nothing much. My vacation ends soon, but I thought I'd retrieve some a data pad I left last time I was here. You know, get a jump on what I'll be doing when I start up again. I'm actually going stir-crazy without much to do now, haha!"

Charlie waved him through the scanners. "Alright, sure, go right ahead, but Miss Harlaown will have to wait here. New rules put into place by Col. Yagami; only authorized personnel are allowed in."

Yuuno glanced at Leethe. "It's okay, I'll be right back."

He caught her return look, letting him know not to try anything funny, and then headed into his workroom, past the other guard standing outside. Everything was how he left it, including the Procreat now resting on his desk. He felt a sigh of relief, glad it hadn't been moved out, but inwardly he wondered what became of Captain Vespertine's investigation. He had forgotten to check up on her, so there was no telling if whoever had altered the records, was still using this.

He pulled out a handkerchief, careful to wrap the item up without touching it - he didn't want to risk accidental activation - and then placed the item in his inside coat pocket. Now he just needed to get out, which would be a bit tougher than getting in. He grabbed a data pad to make his story look legit, then headed back out into the check-in area, shooting a glance at Leethe again and indicating the scanner with his eyes. She seemed to get the idea, and shifted away from the scanner to the other side of the desk.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, Charlie!" Yuuno said, stepping through it, hearing the buzz as expected.

"Just a minute, Yuuno, can you step through again?" Charlie asked, glancing down at his screen.

"Sure, that's strange, it's never done that to me before," Yuuno said, stepping back, through to the sound of a buzz again.

Leethe took that moment to strike, jumping on him and swinging both fists at his head, knocking him out of his chair and to the ground. The guard beside Yuuno's work door leapt into action, but Yuuno tripped him up and Leethe rendered him similarly unconscious.

"Thank you for not killing them," Yuuno told her, releasing a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "But the next patrol to come by will realize what's been done, so we need to get out of here in a hurry."

"Did you get it?" Leethe questioned.

"Yes, of course," Yuuno replied, pulling it out and lifting the cloth to show her. "But I hold onto it, until we exchange it for the hostages. Now I suggest we go."

Leethe followed him into the hallway, and he could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head. "Very well, you may carry it... for now."

x~~*~~x

Aina felt another few strands snap, and then the bonds around her wrists finally loosened a bit, enough for her to slip her hands out. Wasting no time, she undid the ones around her ankles and then quickly whispered for Vivio to be quiet while she freed the younger girl.

No one had been by to check on them in a few minutes, but it could happen anytime now, so she needed to be quick. Tiptoeing to the door, she peeked out, but only saw the younger girl, who was mostly facing away from the door as she leaned against a stack of wooden pallets. If they were careful enough, and none of the other women were in sight, they might just be able to sneak out.

Aina bent down to whisper into Vivio's ear. "This door may creak a bit if opened farther, so you go first, since you can slip out without opening it any farther. Try to make it outside and go for help; don't stop running, unless you can find a good place to hide for a bit. If they see us, I'll distract them."

Vivio nodded, then went to the wooden door, attempting to squeeze out the small crack without opening it. Aina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and then froze.

Frey had turned to look straight at them. "They're escaping!"

"Run, Vivio!" Aina shouted as Frey began sprinting in their direction.

Thankfully, the little girl did as she was ordered, running as fast as she could. The housemaid realized, though, they she wouldn't get far unless Aina bought her time, and so stepped out to grab and tackle Frey as the girl passed by. The two fell to the ground and tumbled, but Aina was quickly kicked away; still, she attempted to get to her feet quickly, to further impede Frey, but a larger form smashed into her and sent her back to the ground.

"Go after the brat!" Gikan shouted. "I'll handle this one."

Aina dizzily regained her feet once more and began to run again, noting with despair that Frey was getting away, but hoping she had bought Vivio enough time; she had failed Nanoha and Vivio once, and now hoped this would make up for it. But Gikan was there, trying to grab and restrain her, and so Aina did the only thing she could think of: a near-instinctual self-defense grappling move she had picked up while on base.

It was hard to say who was surprised more; Aina for managing to pull it off and send the other woman to the ground, or Gikan for getting tossed by a maid. But it didn't last long, as she focused her magic and grabbed the retreating Aina's ankle with an ice bind that tripped her up and sent her to the floor.

Both women slowly got to their feet, each eyeing the other. Aina gauged the distance to the door, but didn't hold much faith in her chances of making it out.

"The kid won't get far," Gikan informed Aina matter-of-factly. "My daughter is an expert tracker and a quick runner, so you've accomplished nothing. But it appears I mistook you for just a lowly cleaning girl, when there is a bit more to you than one might suspect. Our tribe admires warriors, even lowly ones who show a bit of potential, so I'll give you a fighting chance. Defeat me, and not only will I let you go, but your friends as well.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Aina demanded to know. "I'm not a mage."

Gikan's dark blue magic circle formed as she gathered her magic, forming a near-perfect replica of a spear made entirely of ice, then tossed it housemaid, where it clattered to the floor in front of her feet.

"Use that," the woman challenged. "I won't use magic, so show me what you got."

Aina bit her lip, considering just giving up and hoping Vivio got away free. After all, that would be enough; that would be the sane thing to do. But Nanoha and Fate were still prisoner; even if she couldn't defeat this woman, maybe she could do something else. Taking a deep breath, and ignoring the screaming in her gut to just surrender, Aina reached around behind to undo her apron. Sliding it off, she bent down and picked up the spear, wrapping the apron around it so she could hold it without freezing her hands off.

Gikan grinned hungrily and dropped into a grappling stance. "Good. I'm beginning to like you already. Let's do this."

Aina smiled grimly... then turned and ran.

She heard Gikan snarl behind her, knowing the warrior woman was hot on her trail but she had no intention of standing up to a straight fight. She knew Nanoha and Fate had to be around here somewhere, and if she could just find them and free them, they'd do the fighting. She just had to hope she found them before...

Too late, Aina only saw it coming at the last moment, as Gikan came at her from a different angle, slamming into the maid and sending her tumbling away. Somehow, Aina kept ahold of the spear and rolled to her feet, noting Gikan coming in once more; the warrior wasn't giving her a chance to get away again.

Aina swung the spear, but Gikan ducked under it and punched her in the stomach, then backhanded her across the face, sending Aina stumbling backwards out of the stacked-crate aisle. She probably would have fallen, but she backed into a pillar and used it for support to catch her bearings and her breath. Somehow, she was still upright, but she was beginning to doubt the wisdom of her actions, until she happened to glance across the room to see Nanoha and Fate bound side-by-side across the way. She glanced at Gikan, who had stayed back instead of following it up, a grin on her face; it was almost like she was enjoying this.

"Now, are you ready to fight, little one?" the warrior woman taunted. "Or are you ready to give up? There is no shame in doing so; we Quessna warriors are renowned for our strength and beauty."

While she caught her breath and bearings, Aina glanced at Gikan's nearly bald head, the patch over her eye, and the various scars and disfigurements all over the woman's body; if that was beauty, then she had no desire to see the rest of them. But the strength part obviously couldn't be denied, and thus getting to Nanoha and Fate would be more difficult that she initially imagined; still, she wasn't about to give up.

She stepped out, pointing the spear at Gikan, slowly rotating left to make it look like she was circling in on the other woman, while getting closer to the other two captives. But Gikan's grin faded as she realized what was going on and sprung at the housemaid. Aina turned and ran again with all her strength, then planted her heel and swung backwards at the attack she figured was coming.

Gikan danced back, surprise on her face as the tip of the spear grazed her shirt open along her stomach, then snarled angrily and came in again. Aina realized her mistake too late; she wasn't a warrior, and couldn't hope to even delay a true fighter, and now she was out of time.

She heard Fate shout, "STOP IT!" but Gikan's shoulder was slamming into her, knocking the breath out of her body, then the warrior woman's head slammed into her chin, knocking her face up.

Aina could barely tell what was going on around her, or even where her body was, and then her head hit something else and her vision swam. She just barely felt herself hit the floor, her whole body numb except for burning agony, and then a merciful whiteness engulfed her, relieving her of all her pain.

x~~*~~x

Fate stared at Aina's unmoving form, her mouth agape; something about the way her body moved and landed looked unnatural, causing Fate to fear for the worst.

"Aina!" Vivio cried from the doorway, held firmly by a surprised Freya.

"Mother..." the young woman breathed, glancing back and forth between the body and her parent. "You killed her."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's note:

Writing can be cathartic. There were various reasons for this, but mainly because of a recent family tragedy, which I felt I needed to release somehow. I won't go into it here, but I felt I needed to get this out.

Should only be another chapter or two, I think, and then this will be done. We'll see if I can hit those and get them finished up.


	11. Sacrifices

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 11: Sacrifices**

Xx~~*~~xX

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Nanoha realized her mouth was dry, but she took no action to remedy that due to her eyes being locked on the body. Aina was someone who seemed a bit more familiar than the rest as she had more solid memories of the housemaid compared to everyone else, but even despite her lack of memories, the amnesiac woman felt a great deal towards Aina. She was one of the few people she saw on a daily basis, ever since she lost her memory, and the housemaid was always so lively and helpful. It was only with her help with the daily chores, that Nanoha managed to get anything done at all.

Now she was just a still form on the floor.

"You killed her!" Fate accused, her voice low and steady, but laced with venom. "She wasn't even a warrior or a mage! Are you satisfied with that? Picking on those that can't defend themselves?"

Gikan just stood there, staring at the body for a bit, then turned away and scowled.. "It was her own fault for pretending to be a warrior! I gave her the option to surrender!"

"Aina!" Vivio cried, breaking free from Frey and running across toward the woman, tears leaking from her eyes.

But Gikan turned and thrust out her hand, her magic circle flaring, and Vivio's trip was cut short as ice-blue bands appeared around her wrists and ankles. "You're not going anywhere, little one; we still have need of you. You won't be getting away again. Frey, secure her and this time make sure she doesn't escape!"

Nanoha's attention snapped back into focus on the warrior woman in charge at the words and actions directed toward Vivio. "Please, let my daughter go. She has no part in this!"

Frey's face showed obvious signs of doubt and confusion as she glanced at Gikan. "Mother, was it really necessary to kill her? I thought Quessna warriors didn't use such force against a noncombatant."

"Like I said, it was her own fault for getting involved where she had no business," Gikan shot back darkly. "I'm your mother, and if you want back into the tribe, then do as I say and secure the girl!"

Nanoha glanced over, seeing Frey's hands clench and unclench slightly, but she started moving toward the girl anyway. She wanted desperately to say something, but what? What could you say to people you didn't even know, about a daughter you didn't quite remember, and yet still felt something towards? Fate hadn't been able to explain much to her about this whole situation since they were mostly prohibited from talking; all she knew was that they hated Fate for some reason, and wanted Yuuno to get something for them.

"Is this really what you want?" Fate asked Frey as the girl passed nearer to them on her way to the bound Vivio. "To be part of a society that kills innocents? Do you really think they'll let any of us live, including that girl, when they are done?"

"Shut up!" Gikan barked at her. "I don't expect you to understand our ways. Perhaps here, in your comfortable life with armies to protect you, you can take it easy. But our life is considerably harsher, and we have to take stronger measures to survive. Frey is my daughter, and one of our most promising warriors; she knows better than you what it takes."

"Does she?" Fate argued, glancing back and forth between the two women. "How about it, Frey? Do you have it in you to kill that little girl, the way your mother killed Aina? Is this the kind of of warrior you want to be?"

Frey appeared wooden as she dissolved Vivio's binds and began tying her up with more rope to a support pillar across from the other two captive women, while Gikan began walking towards Fate.

"I told you to shut up, pathetic worm!" the warrior woman repeated. "Outsiders have no right to pass judgment on our ways! They are my soul sisters, and I will do whatever it takes to protect them!"

"Even if you make the situation wor-ooph!" Fate's words were cut off as Gikan slammed her fist into the other woman's stomach, and then twisted it for affect.

"This is your last warning," Gikan growled threateningly to Fate's lowered head. "Keep your tongue in your mouth, or not only will I remove it, but I'll do the same to your friend here! Your words mean nothing to me, and your actions have already proven you untrustworthy. I have no reason to listen to what you have to say."

Nanoha gazed worriedly as Fate coughed up blood, some of it trailing down her lip; the amnesiac wanted to tell Fate to stop, unable to see the woman hurt like this, but became relieved when Fate refrained from further speech. However, that didn't stop her from glaring at Gikan.

Frey stood up, after securing Vivio, and turned back around. "Mother, we are going release them once we get the Procreat, aren't we?"

"Don't let that woman sway you from our mission," Gikan soothed. "You know how important the Procreat is, and how vital it is that our village remains a secret. If we allow them to live, they will tell others what we have done here, and then this Bureau will raise an army against us, and wipe us out. Or at least take the Procreat away. Our sisters will die. You don't want that, do you?"

"No..." Frey said slowly, glancing back at Vivio, and then the two other women. "But... if we made them promise not to tell, or took them back with us... There must be some way we can work something out reasonably with them!"

"They'd never accept our ways," her mother countered. "You know what being a warrior means."

"But that one didn't kill me when she had the chance!" Frey protested, pointing at Fate. "They seemed to honestly want to help us; do we really have to kill them?"

Gikan moved forward, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "And she betrayed you the moment she had what she wanted. We can't trust outsiders; it's the way our way of life has been preserved for over 300 years!" She placed a hand under Frey's chin and lifted it. "My precious daughter, I once felt the same as you, at your age. I was hesitant to do what must be done. But in time, you will see. Sacrifices have to be made, if we are to survive."

Frey appeared conflicted, but finally nodded.

Her mother smiled. "Good, that's my daughter. Now go keep watch on the upper level for any sign of intruders or the return of Leethe. I will take care of the prisoners."

Nanoha turned her head upon hearing the sigh from the woman beside her; it was apparent Fate was trying to turn the girl to their side, but the mother's influence was too strong. Nanoha couldn't ask, so could only hope Fate had more plans in store; otherwise none of them would survive the night.

x~~*~~x

"We are back," Leethe announced as she entered the warehouse doorway.

Yuuno followed her in, steeling himself for what was to come; it wouldn't be pretty, and he wasn't entirely sure it would work, but it was their only chance. He paused shortly after entering and let Leethe continue on, waiting, noting Nanoha and Fate sat on the floor with wrists and ankles magically bound with cloth gags over their mouths on the floor behind Giken, while Vivio was tied up over to the left of her. But where was Aina?

"Welcome back, sister," Gikan greeted eagerly. "Did you get it?"

Leethe smiled, nodding. "Yes, it was a success; our tribe shall be saved. But we should move quickly; our theft of the artifact may have been noticed, and we don't have much time." She turned around, finally noticing that Yuuno had hung back. "What are you doing? Bring it here and we shall release your friends."

Yuuno took a breath; this was it. "First, release them, and then I'll give you the Procreat. I'll be your hostage so that they don't report you."

"You misunderstand your position here, male," Gikan threatened. "You give us the artifact, or we kill your friends now." She raised her hand, palm up, and formed an ice lance, letting it hover above her head and pointing it at Nanoha and Fate; the threat was clear.

But Yuuno had a hand to play, as he took out the handkerchief-wrapped object and held it above his head. "And you value this. All I have to do is toss it to the floor and your tribe is doomed. You said so yourself; you need it to survive."

Leethe glanced back and forth between them. "I am sure neither one of us wants harm to come to anyone or anything."

"Release Fate at least," Yuuno told her, figuring Leethe was the more diplomatic of the two.

Gikan barked a laugh. "Not a chance!"

"She is right," Leethe agreed. "That is not an option; too dangerous."

"Then release Vivio," he told them. "She's just a little girl, and no threat to you. At least let her out of this." The two women looked at each other, as if considering, but Yuuno gave them more motivation. "Let Vivio go, and I'll give this to you, then take her place as a hostage. Or I can smash this here and now!"

At Gikan's slow nod, Leethe turned back to Yuuno. "Very well, we have a deal. We'll let her go, and you'll surrender to us with the artifact."

[Bingo,] Yuuno thought to himself, lowering the artifact and re-wrapping it in the handkerchief as Leethe went over and untied the girl. "Vivio, come over to me, it's okay."

She glanced at Leethe, then at the nod, she ran over to Yuuno, hugging him as he knelt down to whisper in her ear. As he pulled back, she nodded and looked down hesitantly.

"Come on, we haven't got all day," Gikan threatened. "She's free, so give us the device."

"I am just making sure she's okay," Yuuno shot back, then turned back to look at Vivio and nodded. "Okay, go for it."

Vivio reached down, then took off running out the door as Yuuno stood up and began walking towards them; he had to time this just right, based on his rough memories from before.

"You can lower that now," he told Gikan, indicating her spear, raising the covered artifact to imply his own threat. "If you want this."

The warrior woman dissolved the lance and stepped up beside Leethe as Yuuno held it out, both women eagerly reaching out to unwrap the object in his hands. As it was revealed, they froze as they noticed the artifact glowing a faint red.

"What's this!?" Gikan demanded, looking up.

"Surprise," Yuuno told them, surging forward and wrapping both arms around them.

There was a flash of light, and all three were gone, the artifact and clothing falling to the ground.

x~~*~~x

"You've accomplished nothing, male," Gikan told him flatly. "While there's no telling how long we'll be in here, time passes differently then on the outside. We'll only be gone about five minutes at most, and then we'll be back where we started. Less if we procreate."

Yuuno felt his neck, smiling when he realized the magic-blocking collar was gone; the Procreat really did remove everything. "Maybe, maybe not. But that wasn't my plan."

His research told him the initiator was the person initially holding the device; that person felt no compulsion or pain. Anyone of the opposite sex nearby would get sucked in, and that could mean more than one other person if they were in contact with it or close enough. He wondered how long it would take before the drive hit the other two, or whether he could handle them once the animal impulses set in.

"Gikan and I have already been in the Procreat and have conceived children," Leethe told him evenly, making no attempt to hide her nudity. "So we know enough to block the compulsion fairly easily. If it was your goal to bear children with us, it will fail. Though I admit I never did think it could take more than two people...."

"It appears I know a bit more about the device than you do now," Yuuno told them, although his hopes a bit dashed with that revelation.. "I was able to do more thorough research when I got back, now that I knew it's name and that it used to belong to ancient Belkan royalty; that allowed me to narrow my search. Vivio, the little girl out there? She's cloned from the Saint Kaiser's line. The device is much more potent when activated by one with her particular genetic code, and I had her touch it just now. The ancient Belkans were pretty obsessive about continuing the Saint Kaisers heritage, so they'd always have someone to work the Cradle."

"Saint Kaiser?" Gikan questioned in disbelief, beginning to advance on him. "Impossible! Our Saint Olive was the last!"

Yuuno shrugged. "The last by normal birth, maybe. But despite how it happened, she's a clone; maybe even of your Saint Olive. I'd have to do more research to be sure."

"You will die for your blasphemy," Gikan growled, leaping at him.

Yuuno jumped back, trying to keep his distance as the more athletic female warrior kept lunging at him, then leaned down and snagged a pillow while on the run. He couldn't match her physical strength, so he just had to survive until they tired; then he could use his magic when they got out. There would hopefully be another surprise waiting out there by then, too, so he just needed to hang on for about 30 minutes, which is the time he guessed he'd be in here.

But as Leethe attacked his blind spot, he realized just how badly he had miscalculated his chances. Her kick sent him blundering sideways, which Gikan too advantage of, slamming her punch towards his stomach. He barely got the pillow up in time, but the impact still knocked his breath out, and her next attack snapped his head around as he stumbled back, slamming his back against the invisible wall.

He wiped his bloodied lip as he regained his bearings, noting Leethe hanging back, studying him while Gikan advanced. He was trapped, near the corner of the room, and now he felt even less able to defend himself; he was only upright due to the wall behind him.

As Gikan surged forward with lightning speed and began to pummel past his defenses, Yuuno's only thought was that he hoped he had bought enough time.

x~~*~~x

Fate's eyes widened in surprise as the three disappeared; was that Yuuno's plan? To use the Procreat like that? What could he accomplish with such a stunt?

Her questions were partially answered as Vivio came running back in and pulled the cloth gag out of her mouth, then grabbed ahold of her wrist binds with both hands. "Yuuno-san told me to free you once he took care of the bad women. I'll have you out in a moment!"

[So that was it,] Fate realized; Yuuno and Nanoha had been teaching her a bit, but the agent wondered if Vivio's magic was strong enough to break these binds. Gikan was a fairly strong mage, easily B rank if not A or higher.

"That's enough, little one," Frey told her with flaming sword in hand, landing next to the three females, startling the little girl. "You surprised me; I didn't think you had enough magic to break my mother's binds. Back away."

Vivio froze for a moment, seemingly unsure of herself, but managed to stammer, "I-I can't! Yuuno-san is counting on me! I won't let you hurt my mamas!"

Frey paused, studying the girl. "I don't intend to, but I can't let you free them, either."

"Are you prepared to kill her, then, Frey?" Fate questioned, hoping she could finally turn the girl; she had noted for some time that Frey appeared uneasy about all of this.. "Or us? Because you might as well do it now. You know your mother doesn't plan to let us live, so why not do it yourself and show your mother what a brave warrior you are?"

Frey moved forward a step, then hesitated, her flaming sword wavering. "I have to... it's our way..."

"There is always another way," Fate told her, trying to reach the girl. "Even if we die here, the Bureau knows of your tribe. They'll figure out what happened and come in force, and it won't be to help your village. But you can save them, right here and now; you can save your people from extinction! The right thing to do is rarely the easiest thing, or the most pleasant; but sometimes one must swallow their pride and reach out."

Vivio took a half step back as Frey approached, sword raised. For a moment, Fate was afraid Frey would strike after all, despite the conflict in her eyes.

The sword came down, burying itself in the floor beside the shocked girl, then Frey turned away. "You have only a few minutes, child. I suggest you make the most of it."

Vivio paused for a brief moment, trembling, then quickly turned around and began to work on Fate's wrist binds again, managing to dissolve them after a few moments of concentration.

"Thank you, Frey," Fate told the women, rubbing her wrists, then checking the collar around her neck. "Do you know how to get these things off?"

Frey shook her head. "No. I was never told how they work."

Fate sighed, the smiled at Vivio as her ankle binds were broken. "Good girl, now free Nanoha-mama. I'm going to check their clothes for a key."

She stood and hugged her stomach, feeling the residual pain there, thinking she might have a cracked rib or two from Gikan's punch. However, she needed to get the collar off to make use of her magic, but only got a few steps in the direction of the discarded garments when the trio rematerialized with a flash. What shocked her most was Yuuno's heavily bruised and bloodied body laying there, unresponsive, as Gikan straddling him, the two women staring at them with equal surprise.

Fate reacted faster, sprinting forward and crashing into both women, sending them down into a sprawling heap of arms and legs while yelling, "Nanoha, take Vivio and go!"

"Like hell we'll let you!" Gikan snarled, punching Fate's side and trying to get the other woman off.

"Gikan, get the woman and child, I'll handle this!" Leethe ordered, locking arms around Fate and rolling them away.

Fate fought back as best as she could to separate herself from Leethe, but without any leverage her punches and kicks lacked a lot of strength. And since she couldn't break free, so there was nothing she could do to help Nanoha; only pray Vivio had gotten her free in time.

"Mother, please stop, there is another way!" Frey protested, stepping between Gikan and Nanoha, while Vivio was trying desperately with the last of her magic to break her mama's ankle binds. "We can talk about this!"

"You betrayed me, after everything I've done for you!" Gikan hissed, raising her arm and smacking Frey across the cheek. "Out of the way! Talking is pointless!"

Her daughter stumbled back, but continued to impose herself between the two, bringing out her flaming sword, raising it defiantly.

Gikan responded with her ice spear. "Not only do you betray me, your own mother, but you raise your hand against me? Very well, I'll have to teach you another lesson!"

Whether Frey was still hesitant to fight her mother or was just outclassed, Fate didn't know. But as she finally freed herself from Leethe and rolled away to stand up, she saw Gikan jab Frey in the stomach with the butt end of the spear, then smack her away just as Vivio freed Nanoha. Fate wasted no time sprinting away from Leethe, tackling Gikan to the ground, the spear skittering across the floor.

"Go!" Fate shouted. "Go get help!"

Nanoha grabbed her daughter's hand as the two quickly made their escape, while Fate wrestled with Gikan. The woman was strong, much stronger than Fate, and more skilled in hand-to-hand, and she was quickly finding herself overpowered.

"Nevermind, you deal with that one, and I'll go after the other two," Leethe's retreating voice called, while Fate hoped the two could get away.

But first, she had to take care of Gikan, and she would need to even the odds to do it. She managed to get her leg between the two and kick Gikan away, then rolled in the opposite direction and came up running, scooping up the spear that Gikan had dropped, wishing she had Bardiche. But the two women had removed it when they kidnapped her so it was probably still back in the house somewhere.

"That won't help you anymore than it did the other woman," Gikan taunted, regaining her own feet. "I've been waiting for this for a long time; I'm going to pay you back for what you did to our village!"

"Actually, I think this will do just nicely," Fate replied, the weapon freezing cold in her hands; but she didn't need to hold it for too long.

The head of the weapon snapped off as she brought it down on on her knee, noting Gikan's eyes widen when the other woman realized what she was up to. Fate took a quick breath, then jabbed the shortened spear point at her neck, growing inwardly jubilant as she felt the collar crack. Gikan wasn't about to let her remove it, though, and charged at Fate, shooting several more ice spikes at her.

Fate dove out of the way, coming back to her feet from a planned tumble, then swung at her adversary with the staff part of the spear, her hands beginning to grow numb and her insides aching; she couldn't keep this up much longer. She managed to trip Gikan up, then dropped the staff and sprinted away, continuing to chip at the collar as ice spikes dug into the crate she ducked behind. She felt a bit of her magic come to her control as the collar became more damaged, which enabled her to concentrate a bit of lightning to enlarge the effect and break if off entirely.

But her euphoria was short-lived as Gikan rounded the corner and sent off a large shotgun-spray of icicles; but instead of dodging, Fate surprised the other woman by raising her hand and putting up a Round Shield, blocking all the shots.

"It's payback time now," Fate told the warrior woman evenly; she didn't have Bardiche, so her magic wouldn't be at its strongest, but it would have to do.

She fired several photon lancers shots, but discovered she wasn't the only one who could put up shields; Gikan put up her own circle barrier to block them as she charged in, using the cover of the explosions to get in close. Fate leapt up to fly, but her ankle was grabbed and she was pulled back down, slamming face first into the concrete floor. She twisted to the side as Gikan lunged at her with another ice spear which dug into the pavement, just barely grazing Fate's side. Fate lifted her hand and fired, blowing the spear out of Gikan's hand, and forcing her opponent to let go of her foot.

As she sprung to her feet, Fate discovered the other woman on her again, finding herself surprised at Gikan's savage attacks; she fought less like a mage and more like raging animal. She realized there was only one way to put this woman down, but it would take a bit of time without Bardiche's cartridges. She began to charge her magic, leaping back to avoid Gikan's swipes, but a red line still opened up along her stomach; the woman had formed an ice sword mid-swing that just grazed her. Fate wished she had time to form her Barrier Jacket, but that was impossible at this rate.

Then Gikan thrust out both hands after pausing for a short moment; a large ice wall came flying at her, giving her no room to dodge.

Fate had no choice, but to act on her plan now as she thrust her hand out. "Thunder Smasher!"

The golden beam tore through the ice wall and slammed into Gikan, sending the woman soaring across the warehouse. With no time for a barrier of her own, Fate could only throw her hands up as the rest of the ice wall struck her about the same time, slamming her back into stacked crates that broke and splintered under her, the upper ones collapsing and burying her while her world went dark.

x~~*~~x

Nanoha didn't need Fate to tell her get out of there; once Vivio had freed her; she knew she couldn't do anything to help. Even though she hated leaving Fate like that, deep down, she knew it was the right thing to do and she had to get Vivio out at least. Fate, Yuuno, and even Aina had risked their lives for that, so she couldn't let them down.

With tears forming in her eyes, she grabbed Vivio's hand and began to run down the tall crate-stacked aisles, pulling the smaller girl up into her arms to carry her, feeling a small pair of arms wrap around her neck. She couldn't risk the closer door, due to the those warrior women being between her and it, but she gambled there was another door somewhere on the other side; she just needed to reach it. She also knew the Leethe woman would be after her due to the overheard shout, so she realized she didn't have a lot of time.

She reached the end of the aisle and ran along the wall, heading for the far corner where she spied the metal door; her insides gave a jubilant shout, but that was dashed once she reached it and tugged on the knob.

It wouldn't budge.

Growling in frustration, she decided to look for another way out and picked another aisle at random, needing to keep moving. She figured she might be able to work her way back around to the first door, and slip out, if Fate had been keeping Gikan busy enough. But at the end of the aisle, Leethe appeared, pointing twin glowing swords down her way and forcing Nanoha to quickly dodge as magical blasts came down the row after her. She barely escaped the explosion, but she knew the other woman would be on them soon. She had to do something, and somehow protect Vivio at the same time.

An idea half-formed in her mind as she ran down a random row, pausing momentarily near a half-open crate and placing the young girl into it. "Stay here and be quiet. Don't come out until they are gone, or I tell you to, okay?"

"Okay," Vivio replied, afraid, but clearly trying to be brave.

Nanoha smiled, experiencing a rush of an emotion she could only describe as coming from a proud mother, absently wondering if this is how she felt before she lost her memories. Then she quickly covered it with the wooden lid and took off running, the ladder to the catwalks above coming into sight.

x~~*~~x

Yuuno had regained consciousness and flipped himself over onto his stomach in an attempt to get up, but was still unable to; his body was in severe pain from the beating he had received inside the item and his muscles were extremely sore. His left eye was mostly swollen shut, and he could taste blood in his mouth, making him wonder if he had a few teeth loose, which meant he wasn't in any shape to help either of the girls.

Still, he was gratified to know Vivio had freed Nanoha and Fate, and now the latter was fighting them. He had planned to help, but his magic was severely limited, both from the drain of being inside the Procreat, and the rest of it devoted to healing himself. His body wanted to go into ferret form, but he resisted that urge; he'd be a bit more limited that way, and he still wanted to do what he could to help if the opportunity presented itself.

Then he saw Gikan go flying back on the front of a golden beam and slam her back against the warehouse wall, causing him to cheer silently as she slid down fell face forward. But he also noted Nanoha on the catwalks, heading for an open window while trying to escape Leethe who was in hot pursuit as she finished climbing a ladder. He kept waiting, hoping, for Fate to emerge and take care of the other, but she didn't; what happened to her?

Nanoha had almost made it to the partially-open window, and it didn't look like Leethe could get to her in time, but then Yuuno noticed Gikan wasn't completely out of it. Her head was raised, obviously realizing Nanoha was about to escape as well, and thus lifted her hand to form another ice lance and aim it upwards.

He could just barely hear her venom-laced words. "You... won't... escape..."

Yuuno's eyes widened as he realized what she was about to do, and with despair, he realized there was nothing he could do to stop her; she was just out of range of his binds, and he could barely even speak due to a damaged throat so he couldn't even shout a warning. In the span of a few brief seconds, he went over his remaining options; telepathy wasn't reaching her either, and she was too far away for him to shield her. That only left one thing left for him to do, the last thing he could do for her; he couldn't let her die here!

Grimacing, he canceled the healing and channeled the rest of his magic into one last spell as Gikan sent the spear streaking upwards. Yuuno felt the familiar sensation of teleportation, and then the searing pain upon completion letting him know that he had been successful. He glanced down and a small part of his mind realized that, based on the length of the spear, it had gone through his body before stopping; he had done it.

With that elated thought, he chuckled once, then managed two hoarse words to the girl behind him, "Nanoha... Live."

His felt his body began to fall as darkness enveloped his vision. Yet before he descended totally into blissful consciousness, his ears registered one agonizing scream.

"YUUNO!"

Xx~~*~~xX


	12. Acceptance

**Unexpected Expectations  
Chapter 12: Acceptance**

Xx~~*~~xX

The rain pounded hard against the rooftop, echoing inside the chapel but going mostly unnoticed by those inside; their attention was focused forward, on the woman who had just stepped up to speak.

"We're all here for a single purpose," Fate solemnly told the assembly. "To honor the memory of one who gave his life in the line of duty. All of us here know of Yuuno Scyra, and most have worked with him in various capacities. I'd like to say my first memories of him were pleasant, but at the time, he was just another another enemy. A discovery of his would intertwine our lives in a way I would never be able to foresee; and in time, it brought us all together. Somehow or another, he touched each of our lives in special ways."

She paused, and even though Nanoha had her head bowed to try and hide her tears from where she sat in the front row and leaning into her mother's one-armed hug, she knew Fate was looking at her. That she was crying at all was an improvement, compared to the zombie-like state of the past week. In her mind, she could still see Yuuno teleporting in front of her, the spear plunging into his body, telling her to live, and then falling to his death. The shock had been too much and sent her into a catatonic state after.

"He always had a way of doing just what we needed at the time, silently supporting us from the background," Fate continued. "His presence wasn't all that strong or forceful, and sometimes you might even have forgotten he was there; and yet his loss lays bare the huge truth of the large part he played. For in all he did, he was always thinking of other people and how he could help them, rarely giving a thought to his own feelings."

For the thousandth time, Nanoha lifted her hand under her black veil, to wipe her eyes with another dampening handkerchief. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry during this and to save her tears for afterward, but it was no use; the tears just wouldn't stop. She leaned a bit more into her mother as the arm around her shoulders gave her a comforting squeeze, and briefly raised her head to see the picture of Yuuno's smiling face in the photo frame, surrounded by flowers in front of the podium, just above the half-open casket that contained his body.

_No...._

Fate took a small pause as she gazed around at all the solemn faces, then resumed. "But even though he's no longer physically among us, his memory will always remain. He's left behind a piece of himself within all of us, and as long as we remember that, he'll always be here."

Nanoha's hand went to her stomach, now showing a bit of a bulge. Fate's words applied more literally to her, for even though the act that created it was mired in intense feelings and unusual circumstances, the baby within her was truly the best legacy he could have left. Thus, she knew she had to be strong, so the child could grow up and ultimately know what a good man his or her father was.

"There is so much more I... find myself wanting to say," Fate said, her head lowering as she grasped the sides of the podium, her voice cracking slightly. "I could go on for hours about what's he done. But I'll just say that, even though Arf was always with me, and Nanoha was my first real friend... where I am today is in large part to him. He was, and always will be... my friend."

_This can't be happening...._

As Fate's voice cracked a bit at the last line, Nanoha felt a gusher of emotion well up inside, despite thinking she finally had it under control. She nearly hiccuped, as her silent tears threatened to come out in full force once more; Yuuno's death was affecting Fate almost as strongly, and yet she seem to be able to compose herself.

[Yuuno, why?] the thought came over and over to her again, among other questions that would forever lack answers. [Why couldn't we just work things out? Why do we say things after a death, that we are too stubborn and pigheaded to say in life? Why did all this have to happen? Why couldn't I have been stronger? If I was, none of this would have happened!]

"Thank you all for coming," Fate offered in closing. "Wherever he is now, Yuuno would be overjoyed to know he had so many who cared."

_This isn't the way it should be!_

The short service ended and Nanoha realized what came next, although she was fearful; viewing the body. She knew everyone else was waiting on her to go first, milling out into the reception area to politely give her time and space. She was grateful for that and to her mom as well, who said nothing, but merely remained at her side, arm around her shoulders. It was a silent strength she was offering, giving her daughter all the time she needed, letting her know she wasn't alone.

Fate came around to sit on Nanoha's left, taking her left hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, smiling gently as Nanoha looked up. She realized then, that she wasn't being her normal self, someone who was strong in the face of adversity, but instead letting her emotions overwhelmingly control her and force her into weakness. She had to be strong, for Yuuno; she could do this. Somehow, that seemed to work, and she stood and crossed over to the half-open casket.

He looked peaceful, she decided, as if in sleep; albeit one from which he would never again awaken. Where he would never smile at her again, or share a meal and light-hearted conversation with. She reached out to light brush the hair above his forehead, as if to really confirm that he was gone; that he wouldn't suddenly spring up and inform her that it was all a joke.

But it wasn't a joke; he was gone.

_NO!_

x~~*~~x

As Yuuno began to fall face-forward off the catwalk, time slowed to standstill, and a pain like no other welled up from inside, turning into a scream as she tried to reach for him.

"YUUNO!"

And she remembered.

x~~*~~x

_She felt him pull back a bit, as one arm dropped. "No, it's okay, really. Although sometimes I wish things could be undone, I can... what's that?"_

_Yuuno had pulled a small, black rectangular box-like object out of his pocket, his gaze turning serious, while his face became full of concern. "There is a way..."_

_More curious that anything, Nanoha studied the small object. "A way? What do you mean?"_

_He stepped forward, raising the object to her head. "A way to erase your memory of the incident, so you can live normally again. You won't have to suffer."_

_The idea surprised her, but it was also somehow appealing; if she didn't remember what happened, she'd no longer be afraid. She really could go back to being herself. The event had taken something from her, leaving a hollow void behind; she didn't feel like Nanoha anymore, and she could admit hating it. The fear, the uncertainty, the way her emotions and body would overreact at the smallest thing._

_But then his hand dropped, his head lowered. "I can't do it. I thought I could. Erase your memories so that you'd be happy, but I realize now I'm really doing it for me, to erase my own guilt. I wasn't taking your feelings into consideration. Fate was right."_

_"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha questioned, shocked at the amount of guilt and grief nakedly displayed on his face; it only increased her own heartache at what they had both been through._

_"I..." his voice quivered a bit, and she could see the conflict within him. "I just want you to be happy."_

_"It's okay," she soothed. "I understand."_

_And she did, as she reached out to take his wrist, the one that held the object and raised it back up. She could feel the sorrow within him, that he really was thinking of her the entire time, even if he went about it the wrong way. But now she could be strong for him, and do something to ease his pain like she had done over a month ago._

_"Do it," she told him. "If you think you can. This is hurting us both, and not a day goes by when I hate how I've become, wishing I could be back to normal. And then we can both put this behind us."_

_His eyes were wide as he stared at her, his hand hovering in mid-air, hesitant, and disbelieving. His mouth opened seemingly to speak, but no sound came out._

_"Yuuno..." she called lightly, willing her feelings across. "It's okay."_

_He nodded, then reached over to place the object against her forward, as she closed her eyes, her thoughts going a million miles per second. It was cool against her skin, but warming up, and suddenly she realized something important._

_Her eyes flashed open and she started to tell him... and then a blinding white light filled her vision, and she could no longer remember what she was going to say._

x~~*~~x

[It was my fault!] she realized with anguish as she leaned after him, his body still just out of reach. [If I had just been strong enough...!]

"NO!" she cried as time seemed to return to normal.

She leapt off the catwalk after him, feeling a strange sort of strength welling inside while raising her glowing right hand to her neck, a small blast of magic being just enough to break the collar. With that limitation gone, she grabbed his body with her other arm and slowed their fall, floating down to the ground below.

"It's alright, Yuuno, I'll save you!" she called fracntically, breaking off the spear end protruding from his backside so she could lay him down. "Just don't die on me!"

Some part of her mind noted noises outside and the sound of doors opening, but her focus was on the man before her; she pulled off her sweater, using it to staunch the blood-flow on his chest, but she noted it was very close to his heart and there was a lot of blood already. Still, she could see his chest rise and fall ever so slightly, so he had to still be alive.

He just had to be!

"You're under arrest!" Signum's voice announced. "Disarm and you'll be granted the chance to defend yourself in a court of law."

"That... male..." Leethe said, surprise in her voice as her swords clattered to the ground and vanished.. "He gave his life for her...."

"Nanoha?"

Her head came up. "Hayate? Shamal! Help me! Help Yuuno!"

The two women leaned down on the other side of the body as Shamal placed her right hand on the body, her rings flaring with green light, and a holographic window opening nearby displaying his vitals. Nanoha didn't understand much of the medical display, but her body went cold as she recognized the line reserved to measure heart rate.

It was a flat line.

"Nanoha, what happened here?" Hayate asked. "We got word that Yuuno had broken in and stolen a lost logia from the vault. It was only through the tracking spell put on all of them, that we managed to find you guys."

"He had to," Nanoha replied, her voice breaking at the sight of his now-pale skin and the fact that she couldn't tell anymore if he was breathing. "To save us. Shamal? Please tell me he'll be alright!"

"He's suffered a lot of damage prior to the obvious chest wound," the Belkan Doctor explained, her voice hesitant. "There was internal bleeding and hemorrhaging, too. Broken ribs, fractured skull, no heart beat.... oh no..."

The doctor's hand froze over his heart, right next to the ice spear, and her eyes closed. When they opened, Shamal slowly pulled her hand from Yuuno, to which Nanoha raised her head and met the other woman's sorrowful eyes, her heart breaking as Shamal sadly shook her head and uttered the words.

"I'm sorry, Nanoha."

Her vision blurry, Nanoha barely saw Hayate shift to her side and grab her in a hug, as the former-amnesiac descended into tears.

x~~*~~x

"We're home!" Nanoha called.

Fate lifted her head from the kitchen as the pair entered the living room. "Welcome back! How did it go?"

Nanoha gestured to the person in the wheelchair she was pushing. "Aina's physical therapy lessons are coming along nicely. It shouldn't be too much longer until she can walk again."

The housemaid blushed. "I really don't think I'm making much progress, but it's kind of you to say so. I'm just grateful you're giving me a place to stay."

"Well, ever since you came out of your coma 3 months ago, you needed some place to stay," Nanoha told her pointedly, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "And as far as I'm concerned, you're family!"

Fate smiled as Aina patted the hand gratefully, then snapped her fingers. "Oh, I received a letter from Quin, Mallory, and Frey earlier. The transition is going good back on their planet. Even though there have been some rough spots, the Quessna tribe is reintegrating well with the other villages. Arla has been surprisingly more pragmatic about the tribe's survival."

"That's good to hear; I'm happy for them," Nanoha replied, looking around. "By the way, where is Yuuno?"

"Oh, he's asleep in his room," Fate informed her. "He had a bit of a rough day."

Nanoha nodded and smiled. "I think I want to peek in on him; can you take care of Aina for me, for a bit?"

As soon as Fate gave her assent, Nanoha headed back to the hall and went upstairs, finding the bedroom labeled "Yuuno" and slowly opening the door as quietly as she could, so as to not wake him. It appeared to go successfully, as she gently tiptoed over and gazed down at his lovely, sleeping face. He was so peaceful, and it was moments like these that made her heart melt and strengthen her will to live.

And then his eyes fluttered open and saw her, and began to cry.

Nanoha sighed as she reached in and picked him up. "Oh, I should have figured you'd do this to me. You probably sensed me come in. Let me guess; someone is hungry?"

As she gently held her 4-month-old son against her shoulder and rubbed his back, the crying continued, and Nanoha realized it would take too long to prepare a bottle and thus retired to the rocking chair in the corner. Yuuno continued to cry and paw at her chest as she lowered him.

"Hold on, hold on, mama will feed you in a bit," she cooed, which seemed to soothe him as she raised her shirt with her free hand.

In moments, she had him in place, and felt oddly at peace as her son suckled. There had been many times when she wondered if this was worth it, and yet now, at this very moment, she knew it was. She couldn't imagine life without him.

After several minutes, Fate peeked her head in through the door, into the darkened room, and smiled. "I wondered what was keeping you; I should have figured." She crept in and closed the door behind her to keep the room dark. "He had been asleep for a few hours, so I suppose I should have expected he'd be up soon and want to be fed. I should have prepared a bottle; I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly," Nanoha chided her, as the other woman sat down in a reclining chair next to her. "You do a lot for Vivio, Yuuno, and I already. You've always done a lot for us; I'm really glad you're here."

"I'm glad to be here," Fate admitted, reaching across to gently squeeze Nanoha's arm. "Aina is resting in her room for now, watching her shows, so we have some time before dinner." She paused, and Nanoha sensed the other woman's gaze on her. "Are you planning on going to visit him?"

Nanoha was silent for a minute, before looking down at her son and nodded, whispering, "Yes. It's our 1-year anniversary, after all."

x~~*~~x

"Hello, Yuuno, it's been awhile," Nanoha greeted, then held up her hand. "No, don't say anything; I have a lot to tell you. I know I haven't visited as often as I should have, but I'm here now. I'm doing well, as is your son, so don't worry about that. We're all doing the best we can, so you can rest easy, and be proud of us.

She paused, reaching up to wipe a tear from her eye. "It's funny; I could have sworn I had more to say, but standing here right now, I just can't find the words. Oh! Hayate's investigation into the Procreat enabled her to apprehend the people responsible for keeping it's existence secret; so if you had never gone digging into that, they could have still managed to keep using it to hurt other people. And also, Quinn and Mallory are doing well, so you'll be glad to hear that. They are both eternally grateful to you for bringing them back together. If you ever doubted making that journey, don't; Mallory would never have lived if you hadn't.

She chuckled. "Speaking of which, Frey is also doing well, despite missing her mother. Even though Gikan is still serving her sentence, Frey does miss her, and visits often. Although Leethe may see a bit of an early release, due to good behavior. Gikan, however, is still holding onto her anger. You'd think she would have let it go by now, but she's incredibly stubborn. Fortunately, so is Frey; she managed to convince Arla to have the Quessna tribe join the real world, and it's going smoothly. The genetic damage has been repaired among many of the women, and despite some... misunderstandings, quite a few of the Quessna warriors are finding normal relationships with men."

She chuckled at a memory of a video Frey had sent her once, of how heavy-handed the initial courting attempts of some of the women were; it conjured up her mind a vision of a cave woman clubbing a man over the head and dragging him back to a cave. There was apparently quite a bit of learning that needed to be done.

Nanoha shook her head. "I'm sorry, my mind drifted there. I just... I have so much I want to tell you, about how I feel, both back then and right now. A part of me hates that I never said what I truly felt when I had the chance, and I suppose it will always be a regret. I just miss you so much, and I ache whenever I think of you. But don't worry, I'm not going to do anything stupid; I know you'd never forgive me if I did. I have to live, not only for our son, whom I treasure so much, but for Vivio, Fate, and all our friends.

A smile slowly formed on her lips as she raised her right hand and placed it on her heart. "But no matter what, you'll always have a place here. And I'll never forget you, Yuuno Scrya. I'll visit as often as need be, so you don't get lonely."

She blinked her eyes at the wetness she suddenly noticed, then finally leaned down and placed the bouquet of flowers on the tombstone, next to the lit incense candle. Satisfied, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, she turned to see Fate standing there, not even realizing the other woman had crept up.

"I'm ready to go," Nanoha declared, wiping her eyes. "Yuuno-kun wouldn't want me to stay sad forever."

Fate crossed the short distance and hugged the other woman. "I know; he was my friend, too. I cared about him just as much."

Nanoha squeezed the other woman tightly. "And if there's one thing my experience with him taught me, was that sometimes you shouldn't wait to say what you need to. You've been there for me, for a long time. Not just through what happened last year and my pregnancy, but before that as well." She took a deep breath. "I just want to tell you-"

"Shh, it's okay, I know," Fate replied, interrupting her. "Me, too."

Nanoha squeezed the other woman tightly, knowing everything would be alright now; she had been hurt, but she knew she had the strength to live now.

Xx~~*~~xX


	13. Two Roads Diverged

**Unexpected Expectations**

**Chapter 13: Two Roads Diverged**

Xx~~*~~xX

Nanoha took a deep breath. "I just want to tell you-"

"Shh, it's okay, I know," Fate replied, interrupting her. "Me, too."

_Nanoha...._

_"Well, got what you finally wanted; thought you'd be happier."_

_Yuuno looked up to see himself, realizing it was the other him. "What makes you think this is what I wanted!"_

_He gestured to the two women hugging each other, displayed on the screen. "I know you; I AM you. That teleport wasn't to save her; it was to avoid facing the truth. It was the easiest path to follow, and thus you did it. You're so predictable that way."_

_"That's not true!" Yuuno shot back, angry. "I did what I had to, to save her!"_

_The other him shrugged. "That's a cop out, and you know it. But believe what you wish, if it makes you feel better."_

_"After all you've put me through, I'm surprised you're telling me that," Yuuno said darkly, then laughed. "And here I am talking to myself; I must have finally gone crazy. Who are you supposed to be?"_

_"I am you, remember?" his duplicate informed him. "You created me to help you. Everything that's happened, everything I did to you is what you desired."_

_Yuuno stared at him, incredulous. "All those bad dreams, and you're telling me that's what I wanted!"_

_The other him laid back and gazed upwards, seemingly unperturbed. "After all this time, you still don't see it. Denial is pretty powerful, I suppose. Very intriguing."_

"_Well then, if you're supposed to be me, why don't you just tell me?" Yuuno challenged. "What exactly am I hiding from myself?"_

_His duplicate laughed. "That would be too easy, but I can toss you some hints. The way you ran away, nearly burned yourself in the shower, allowed those amazons to capture and torture you, took them back into the procreat even though you knew what would happen, and ultimately threw your life away. Hell, let's go back in time to the Jewel Seeds, and how you went after them alone. Even after you got Nanoha's help, you wanted to push her back out of it once you were feeling better and continue alone. Seeing it yet? You pride yourself on being a scholar, so it shouldn't be an issue."_

"_You're saying I always take everything on myself?" Yuuno asked after a few moments of thought, then laughed once again. "That I have some sort of martyr complex?"_

"_Well now, you are a bright boy after all!" his duplicate sneered. "You *wanted* to torture yourself, so I obliged; that's why we're still talking now, because you're still conflicted. All that stuff you did? Self-destructive much?"_

_Yuuno was silent a moment. "Maybe I am. I guess I never stopped to think about it. What does it matter now, anyway?"_

_"You think that if you live, you'll still need to bring pain to yourself and those around you," his mirror image accused. "You don't want others to suffer because of you so much, and thus death is a convenient escape. Life and reality are much scarier to confront."_

_"And I realize you're only telling me this, because you're trying to torture me some more," Yuuno commented cynically, still gazing at the still frame of Nanoha and Fate. "That is what you said you were here for."_

_"Perhaps I am," the duplicate suggested with a grin. "For you, living is the worst torment you could possibly endure at this point. You're too pathetic to stop blaming yourself for everything, always trying to think of others, while never thinking of yourself. You fancy yourself somehow noble for doing so, when in reality you're just killing yourself a little at a time. 'Yuuno is a good man, never thinking of others, isn't he so great? He never wants for anything.' Sickening, that's what it is."_

_Yuuno's head lowered. The sting was straight to the point, but he should have expected that; there was little you could hide from yourself if you were deliberately looking. And one always knew what hurt oneself the worst._

_"So, I ask you: Is this what you really want?" the replica challenged again. "Are you satisfied with this? Just giving up?"_

_Yuuno clenched his eyes shut, the picture fading before his eyes. "No...."_

_The other Yuuno cupped his ear and leaned in slightly. "Hmm? What was that?"_

_"I don't want it to end like this...." Yuuno declared under his breath, his fists clenching as he finally faced the truth he had been avoiding. "I was hurt, used, abused.... and I convinced myself that it was what I wanted. To prove it, I continued to abuse myself, justifying it by saying I was doing it for everyone else."_

_His other yawned. "So? What are you going to do about it? Bit late to finally figure that out, hmm? After all, you're dead."_

_Yuuno's head came up, fixing his double with a glare. "But now I know your purpose. I created you because I wanted to punish myself, constantly seeking pain as some form of atonement. Perhaps I was running away, but not anymore!"_

_"Whoa, weren't you watching the movie? You're dead!"_

_Yuuno grinned. "If I were dead, you wouldn't be trying to convince me to live. Like I said, you're the part of me I created to torture myself; you're still trying to do it. And apparently, you also got the self-preservation part of myself, too. While I wanted to die, you want to live; and if I die, so do you."_

_Expecting another comeback, Yuuno was surprised instead to see his double slowly clap his hands. "Congratulations, ferret boy. Took you long enough." His face turned serious, as he slowly dissolved. "I'll be watching you, you know. Waiting for you to slip up, to torture you again. Because you will call me again. Perhaps to cut your wrists or something."_

_"We'll see about that," Yuuno told his other self as it completely disappeared, then he looked up and closed his eyes. "But now, I have some place I need to be."_

x~~*~~x

His eyes shot open and he took a deep breath, instantly panicking at his lack of movement; he felt constricted, sluggish, his limbs unresponsive. And then his brain fully registered his location in a hospital bed, a breathing mask over his face, and a blanket covering most of his body. He still couldn't move much, but he gradually calmed down.

[Is this real?] he wondered. [Did I do it?]

And then as his eyes roamed the room, he noted the girl with familiar brown hair beside his bed, leaning over with head down and resting on her arms, and he smiled.

[If this isn't real, if it is some sort of dream, perhaps I don't want to wake up,] the thought came to him, but then he chastised himself; that's what got him into this mess in the first place.

His slight movements must have disturbed her, for she slowly raised her head and rubbed her eyes, blinking as she noticed the patient in the bed looking back at her.

"Yuuno-kun!" she cried, leaning forward suddenly to hug him. "You're awake!" She pulled back suddenly. "You are awake, aren't you? You remember everything? How do you feel?"

"Yes," he managed to say with a hoarse voice, then grimaced. "Throat... dry..."

"Oh, hold on, there is something we can about that," she told him, reaching down and pulling up a tube, lifting his breathing mask a bit to hook one end of the tube into his mouth. "You were in a coma for over a week; Shamal wasn't sure you'd pull through, considering the damage you sustained. Okay, I'm gonna squirt some water into your mouth."

He swallowed the small amount of cool liquid, his speech improving as a result. "Thank you, Nanoha. And I want to say.... I'm sorry. For what I did to you, for running away after, and for wiping your memories. I know you don't remember, but-"

"Shh!" Nanoha commanded, something in her tone making him curious. "Stop it! I remember everything. Strangely, it all came back to me when I saw you begin to fall. Shamal thinks my mind magically protected those memories of you, because they were so connected with my magic so my subconscious just buried them.

She reached down to take his left hand in hers, squeezing it. "I already forgave you for what happened when we were inside that lost logia; it wasn't you who raped me, and I know it hurt you as much as it hurt me. But I know you would never willingly harm me if you could help it. I let you, so that you wouldn't suffer. I forgive you for running away, too. It hurt, I'll admit, but I probably wasn't ready to face you right away. And it was I who decided on the mind wipe, again, because I didn't want you to suffer, and I could see you were. " She smiled sadly. "I think we both messed up, doing bad things we shouldn't have, because we didn't want the other to suffer."

"I never knew..." Yuuno stated softly, staring at her, then laid his head back and let out a single laugh. "I guess we were both a couple of idiots, then."

"Yeah..." she replied, then gave his hand a squeeze. "But I'm glad you're back, Yuuno-kun."

Yuuno closed his eyes concentrating on the feeling of his hand in hers. "Me too." But there was something more. "Nanoha... I realized a lot of things while I was out. Things I wanted to hide, because I felt it was for the best. But I know now, I have to be honest with myself, and with everyone else."

"Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha questioned, her voice unsure.

"Part of why it hurt me so much, to see you hurt," he replied softly. "I never wanted to hurt you, and yet I ended up doing it anyway. But the real reason was because of... how I feel about you. I want to do what I can to help you raise our child, but I'll leave it up to you, as to how much you want me involved. I don't expect you to feel the same; I just want you to be happy. And I didn't want to be conflicted anymore."

"Shh," Nanoha told him again, leaning down to hug him. "I know, I understand. Perhaps I always knew how you felt, and never confronted it myself. I don't know how I feel right now, but we'll work something out, I promise. This is your baby, too, and I want the child to know what a great man his or her father is. And no matter what, I can promise we'll always be friends. We've been through too much together; I'd be a terrible friend if I let it end over a few small bumps. We all have our issues, even me."

Yuuno smiled finally feeling the weight begin to lift, as he closed his eyes and managed to lift his arms to hug her back. "That's all I wanted to hear, thank you."

x~~*~~x

"Oh, Yuuno, welcome!" Fate said with a smile, as he came in through the door. "How was it?"

"Difficult, as always," he admitted.

She smiled. "Counseling sessions are like that. But just think of Aina, who has more physical therapy to go through later."

"Yeah, and I promised I'd take her over, before I head off on my trip," Yuuno told Fate, walking with her into the living room.

"Going to see Quin and Mallory?" Nanoha called from the kitchen as she prepared dishes. "I almost wish I could go with you, to meet them. All I have are the letters you've received, with them thanking you for all you did. If you hadn't of gone on your trip, Mallory would be dead now."

Yuuno laughed once. "At least something good came of it. That's what Dr. Leann says anyway."

A crying sound emanated from somewhere in the house, causing the three to sigh and smile, and Nanoha to begin to remove her apron.

"Oh dear, I should have known she wouldn't stay asleep until after dinner," Nanoha commented.

"I can handle it," Yuuno offered with an amused smile, holding up his hands "Don't worry about it.

Nanoha's smile let him know she was grateful. "Thank you. Here, take this bottle in case she's hungry; I kept it warm."

Yuuno accepted it, pointedly trying to avoid turning red at Fate's _very_ pleased grin as she set the table; she was really enjoying seeing "daddy" be put in these situations. As Yuuno traveled to the baby's room, he had to admit he was finding himself enjoying it, too, although he tried not to let it show too much. Despite the method of conception, having a child was somehow soothing to him, deep down.

[Still,] he thought with a sigh as he opened the door into the darkened room, [it might be nice if she was a little quieter.]

He set the bottle down as he picked up his crying 3-month old daughter from her crib and began to rock her in his arms. "Shh, it's okay Momoko, daddy's here."

Surprisingly, she began to quiet down, settling for some occasional frustrated cries, which made him feel proud inside for some reason. He started to hum a low song, a little useless ditty he remembered from his own childhood, thinking about everything he wanted to teach this young girl.

"That was beautiful," Nanoha said from the doorway, startling him as he finished his song; he didn't even realize he had switched to a low singing voice.

He blushed. "Just trying to calm her down, which I think she is now."

"You are good at that," Nanoha remarked with amusement, coming to stand beside him. "It usually takes me twice as long to calm her back down. I take it she's not hungry?"

Yuuno shook his head, as he noticed Momoko's eyes were closed again. "Doesn't seem like it; might have just been a bad dream, and she just wanted some reassurance. Speaking of food, didn't you need to watch dinner?"

"Fate's taking care of it," Nanoha replied, reaching out to gently squeeze his upper arm. "You're a good father."

Somehow, that simple phrase meant more to him than anything else, but it also caused his cheeks to redden again. "Thank you, although I don't know what I'm doing, or where I"m going most of the time."

"One step at a time," Nanoha told him. "That's all any of us can do. There's a lot I still don't know, either. But we'll take it one day at a time. You, me, Fate, and Momoko."

Yuuno nodded, in full agreement. "One day at a time. That's good enough for me."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

As a fanfic author, sometimes we find ourselves with multiple directions we could go, and then we realize the beauty of writing fanfics, is that we can explore several directions. The previous chapter could have ended there, and indeed, if you feel it makes for a better ending, you can stop there. But I wasn't able to have Yuuno confront himself in that, and I guess I'm a bit of a sap that likes happier endings, so I wrote this. Personally, it could be an AU ending, or the real thing, but that's something I'll leave for the reader to decide.

Some of you may recognize the title from a Robert Frost poem, where he contemplates which path to take. And how, in the end, he took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference. His poems and short stories are some of my favorites, especially after I sang quite a few of his peoms-turned-int-songs in high school. While some say he may have been obsessed with death, I think he was more into the unknown; that he'd rather avoid the easy path, because the harder one made him a better person. But that's just my own view, heh.

So that's what this was, the exploration of another path, that I'll leave it to the reader to decide.

As for shippings or pairings, I'll leave that up to the reader, too. I didn't say what Nanoha or Yuuno are, or even what Fate is in this, but if someone wants to write a fic based off this ending, or the "ending" to the previous chapter, feel free. And take whichever interpretation you'd like.

In the end, I just wanted to do the unexpected, and explore something a bit different. Mainly just to try everything, and to grow as a writer.

And now, I have to finish Red Jewel Diaries, and make a decision, heh. See you next time!


End file.
